


Broken Biscuits can be fixed

by Littlepineapple



Category: One Piece
Genre: Angst, Arranged Marriage, Comfort, F/F, F/M, Fluff, I just work 40 to 50 hours a week and study for another 30, Katakuri is best big bro, Katakuri will get his own story from this eventually, M/M, Mental Abuse, Smut, Sweet Commanders stick together, THIS FIC IS NOT DEAD, Trauma, i know some of you are only hear for that, long chapters, some love for my biscuit boy, will tag smut chapters
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-10
Updated: 2018-04-02
Packaged: 2019-02-12 21:54:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 48,114
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12969189
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Littlepineapple/pseuds/Littlepineapple
Summary: With the Strawhats safe escape with Sanji and Pudding along with the survival of the Vinsmoke family Whole Cake Island and Totto Land struggled to regain its reputation and respect.Big Mom demands a debt be payed by Shanks for allowing the Strawhats and her disgraced daughter safe haven in his territory before they moved on.Willing to be satisfied with another wedding Big Mom makes Shanks an offer he can't refuse without sparking a war between YonkoHer son is to marry his daughter to solidify relations and get rid of the bad blood between them or all hell breaks loose in the New World





	1. A proposal you cannot not refuse

**Author's Note:**

> Chapter 1.  
> I have no real excuse besides a conversation that led to theories and sparked an idea.  
> Thanks for giving this a read, please let me know what you thought as I have a few chapters ahead planned.  
> I do not own One Piece.  
> Please give feedback and a like.  
> (I am going to be away for christmas with no laptop but I will update as soon as I can. I'm starting on chapter 4 as soon as this is posted)

"That no good one armed bastard! I should just blow him out of the water while he sleeps!" The matriarch screamed, shoving another handful of cake into her mouth, it'd already taken three cakes for her to calm down from throwing the furniture and demanding heads on a platter.

  
"Mother, please, a war with another Yonko would leave no winners and utter destruction." Her second son replied, trying to calm his mother as best he could, what could Katakuri do? Totto land was still in turmoil after the Vinsmoke wedding and the ensuing chaos. There had already been enough destruction and loss thanks to the Strawhat boy.  
"I know, I know. Shanks has friends in high places but we have friends in some very low places too.. That lousy snake just let them sail right into his territory and did nothing to hand them back over." Clenching her fist she slammed it down into the arm of her chair, absolutely livid over this utter lack of respect from a fellow Yonko.

No one had expected Red Hair to act completely oblivious to it, claiming pure ignorance to having the Strawhats in his territory for nearly three weeks before they were spotted leaving. Three weeks Shanks had sat by and played stupid to everything that had happened in Totto Land, even to the fact that Luffy had been seen on his very ship before they left the protection of the Yonko.  
Big Mom considered this a betrayal, no Yonko had ever done this to another Yonko. Even if they were formidable and not to be trifled with it was good to keep some relation open in the event that Marines wanted a fight.

  
Sitting and thinking a while Big Mom continued to stuff her face, grumbling as she ate her cake.

Silently Katakuri stood there feeling guilty. If he hadn't been so overconfident about the assassination attempt he might have seen the Strawhats coming, he might have seen the betrayal coming from within his own family. He might have been able to deal with this problem before it had the chance to become a problem.  
His eyes drifted to the side of the room to where his brothers body lay, a small IV drip set up next to him and a pillow under his head. His mother had blamed this entirely on Cracker, saying if he hadn't been so useless he could have stopped strawhat, if he hadn't been so weak everything would have turned out fine.  
As punishment she had torn the soul from her sons body and put it into what she called the 'Time Out' dungeon until she felt he'd learned his lesson. The Mochi man could only imagine his poor brothers sufferings, Cracker had always been a tad soft but he was always eager for his mothers approval and the love of his siblings, it never really worked in his favor but surely he didn't deserve to be put through this.

"Don't worry about your failure of a brother, my son. I didn't call you hear to punish you, goodness no." She cooed, reaching down to pat her second son lightly on the head, it was indeed suspicious that she hadn't punished any other like this besides Cracker.  
Smoothie got one hell of an ear bashing from her mother and told she needed to get stronger, having being banned from seeing her beloved until she showed improvement Big Mom was satisfied her daughter wouldn't slip up again. Bruleè had been held hostage and considering her after attempts to chase after the Strawhats she'd gotten away with two weeks of staying in her Mirro-world to learn more tact and tricks at using it. Katakuri had pre-prepared for his own punishment, knowing he had slipped up himself and allowed such horror to befall his family.

  
"I asked for you to come here to see if you would. It being the day of your sixth wedding anniversary I thought you'd be out of contact, yet you still came at your mothers request. You've shown unwavering loyalty through this entire shamble and have reflected on your mistakes well, so you get a reward for being an example of what a good child looks like." Even though her tone was sweet enough Katakuri could tell it was nothing more than manipulative praise meant to condition him.  
After years he'd figured out his mothers mannerisms and tones, when she wanted good results and a confident aura from her children she would praise and reward them, if she wanted them to just get the job done without care for their safety she'd remind them of all their failings.

  
"Of course I came, mother.. I assure you he understands that family comes first and my duties as a Sweet Commander must take importance over an anniversary. He sends his regards.” As Katakuri spoke he began to smile under his thick scarf, not all the arranged marriages of the Charlotte children had been loveless and lonely things.  
Leaning down in her chair she grinned at her son, what she had as a reward for him would certainly turn out to be more rewarding for her than him when it came down to it.  
“There will be another wedding, this time you will make sure absolutely nothing goes wrong. I expect you to prove yourself and your worth as a Sweet Commander with this. You will collect the bride, willing or no, bring her back, guard her until the day of the wedding.” The grin was now forming into a wide smile as she leaned in closer to her son “I need my strongest son on this because who else can be trusted to waltz into the territory of Yonko Shanks and take his darling daughter away to get married!”

With that Katakuri almost fell over. Was his mother serious about this? Would she try to get another Yonko on her side by way of marriage? Of course Shanks was known to be fiercely protective of everyone in his crew, one could only imagine the rage there would be at the request for his daughters hand in marriage, or would it be more of a threat than a request?

  
“Mama, you need me to get the daughter of Red-Hair Shanks to Whole Cake from his own territory? Couldn’t that be considered an act of war against a Yonko?” He dared to ask, there was no way he could assemble his men and take the child of a Yonko without sparking major conflict. Marriage of the children between Yonko had never happened before.

  
“Oh don’t worry, I’m making Shanks an offer he won’t be able to refuse. He is not a man of needless violence and couldn’t risk an all-out war, not when thousands would die for nothing. I have loyal allies on standby to attack outlying island flying his flag, one call and every man, woman and child would be obliterated within hours.” As the Matriarch explained her devious plan it was already giving Katakuri anxiety.

  
Plotting the extinction of Germa 66 was one thing but forcing another Yonko to marry off their child via threats was a new level even for them! A small country that was starting to get out of line, allies who were starting to stray and get ideas of rebelling, keeping high bounty pirates from attacking; these were all things that could be done with absolute ease given their power and status, with Big mom at the head of the family no one could refuse her, no one accept a fellow Yonko.  
“If I may ask, mama, who have you chosen to marry her?” Now Katakuri was beginning to ask what needed to be known. If it was for a sibling he had high praise and love for he would do his utmost to help them, if it was for a sibling known for troublesome and disgraceful acts he’d more than happily dump their bride in the ocean and claim she fell.  
Not much was known about the private life of Shanks, just that his beloved died and left him raising a child alone, the child in question was illusive and was rarely seen outside his territory, no allies dared to run their mouth off about the girl and none would easily give information pertaining to her, unless they had no choice in the matter.  
One of the final missions Pudding had run for her mother was to find an ally of Red Hair and see what they knew of his personal life, anything that could be used against him and bring that person back to mama.

  
Wagging her finger at him she laughed heartily “A stupid question for someone so smart, Katakuri. You’ve been here with him the whole time, even though he’s still in punishment he shouldn’t get away so easily.”

  
Katakuris eyes widened as he now actively stared at his unconscious little brother. His mother meant to marry the child of Shanks to his fellow Sweet Commander, not only would that put Crackers head back on the chopping block it would mean he would also be answerable to Shanks.  
His little brother had always sought approval where he could, be it in the form of running errands for older siblings or being the target for training younger or older siblings as combatants. Cracker had already began to break down before his soul was torn from his body but now there was no telling how he would be.  
“M-mama, you mean to marry Cracker off. I thought marriage was only for the children who’d pleased you, Cracker has been in punishment for weeks after he lost to Strawhat.” He exclaimed, pointing to the soulless husk that once housed his brothers soul.

  
“Foolish child!” His mother snapped “This is not because he pleased me, this is because he caused all of this! He failed to stop the Strawhats, he failed to raise the alert in time and he failed to do anything right after. Now I have to back Shanks into a corner thanks to him.. It’s only fitting since by extension he is the one causing this that he shall marry her. Spending his life with the girl who is paying for his failures, it might encourage him to try harder if he has a wife.” Laughing manically Katakuri could only furrow his brow and try to keep his composure.

  
No doubt his mother hatched this plan even before taking Crackers soul, if anything all three Sweet Commanders should have received equal punishment but singling Cracker out as the penultimate cause would only serve to weaken him against refusing his mother’s ideas. ‘ _Soft minded fool did no worse than us yet he takes our share of the punishment.’_ Katakuri thought to himself as he took a cautious step closer to his brother.

This however didn’t go unnoticed by his cackling mother “You can also take the miserable brat out of my sight, I’m already tired of looking at him. Get him presentable before you leave tomorrow, you also need to make sure he understands how important this is for us. He can keep his title as a Sweet Commander and a Minister but if he fails me once more make sure he knows it’ll be his bride who pays the price.” Rising from her chair the giantess walked to the back of the room and opened a small door  
It was where she liked to keep the souls of all those who were in the ‘Time Out’ for disappointing her, ripping a full soul out and leaving the host in a state to receive it back wasn’t something she did often but made exceptions for her children and valuable allies. Behind the large wooden door was a collection of smaller doors, each with a number engraved on it and a variety of sizes.

  
Opening one of the higher doors she reached into the small cage, barely big enough for her to fit her fingers in, pulling out what was the soul of her tenth son, keeping it firmly in her grasp she grinned “I hope you learned your lession and won’t disappoint again, go on back to your body and Katakuri will take care of you. Mama needs to go make a very important call now.” Practically throwing the soul across the room it was drawn back into its body in a matter of seconds.  
“Make sure your brother doesn’t fuck this up, it’ll reflect badly on you if it goes belly up.” Was the last warning Big Mom gave before leaving the room, slamming the door behind her as she left to contact Shanks.

As soon as his mother had left the room Katakuri was kneeling at his brothers side, Crackers soul and partial consciousness of his soul had been in complete isolation since receiving punishment, stuffed into the small box he could hear nothing, see nothing and feel nothing, it would surely have a lasting effect.  
A soft moaning groan began to sound as Cracker tried to move his head “Don’t try get up, brother, just stay there and take a moment.” Katakuri placed his hand on his brothers shoulder and smiled, thankfully the soul had no issues after being away from the body so long, none immediately noticeable that was.  
Eyes slowly opening Cracker looked up at his elder brother, thankful that the first person he saw was the sibling who’d tried to defend him most, lifting his hand weakly he grasped his brothers hand.

  
He’d been so long without touching something, feeling anything was a welcome sensation “Ka-Kata, I’m sorry I fucked up so bad, I didn’t think the kid was that powerful.” He rasped before Katakuri began to lift him.  
“What’s done is done, right now my job is to get you cleaned up, fed and informed.” Removing the IV needle from his brothers arm Katakuri hoisted him over his shoulder, he couldn’t remember the last time he’d carried his little brother like this, it must’ve been at least seven years ago.  
“Just don’t drop me, I don’t think I can survive the fall right now.”

With a soft chuckle Katakuri stood up and exited the room, knowing his mama was long gone to contact Shanks he wouldn’t be berated for helping his brother back to his assigned room. Each of Charlotte children had a room assigned to them at their mothers castle for when they were needed for extended periods of time, thankfully Crackers had been close to his own for some time now.

  
Walking through the maze like home he stopped a kitchen servant along the way “I’ll be taking my Merienda with Cracker, have the food sent directly to his room, prepare some extra food for him, he needs to be in top condition for next week and it better not be a moment late.” Without giving the servant time to respond he was once again walking.  
After a good ten minutes of walking they had finally arrived, ‘Charlotte Cracker, Minister of Biscuit’ Was engraved on a small plaque next to the door.  
Once inside Katakuri turned the key in the lock and laid his brother down on the bed “First we need to get you washed and into clean clothes, then you can rest while I give you details about mamas next move.” He huffed before he went to rummage around in the closet.

  
Cracker slowly sat himself up, the world around him a spinning blur as his eyes failed to focus, his head was pounding while he tried to remember had happened before his soul was taken, vaguely he recalled his mother saying he had one last chance to prove he was worthy of being her son. One last chance before she’d do away with him for good.  
His stomach ached and growled with hunger, the IV had only been giving the bare basics of what nutrition he’d needed, nowhere near enough to keep him at full strength, right now he was next to useless, once more having to depend on his big brother to help him out.

  
“M-mama said I had one more chance, you said I need to be in top form for next week.. Am I to be sent on a mission or back to Biscuit Island?” He asked weakly, his breaths becoming heavy with each passing word.  
Returning from the walk in closet Katakuri threw some clothes onto the bed, nothing too fancy or elegant, just plain clothes he had laying around that were comfortable, he’d need all the comfort he could get.

  
Not wanting to upset his brother with the responsibility he’d soon have Katakuri just shook his head, he didn’t need Haki to know how his brother would react to this bombshell. Cracker had never really been good with talking to ladies, nor had he had much confidence in himself to actually get a girlfriend in his teenage years, Katakuri couldn’t help but pity his little brother in that respect, even he’d had a few secret relationships before his marriage.

  
“We can discuss it before Snack Time, we must sort other problems first, the first being the need of a shower and a relaxing bath.” Already having said the priorities Katakuri had to follow through as they had been listed, it was senseless to go throwing it out the window when he’d been planning it out.  
Cracker took hold of his brothers arm and pulled himself up, on shaky legs he soon regained balance, his legs felt so weak, as if they were toothpicks threatening to break under his own weight “Take it slow, Cracker, there’s no rush.” Katakuri reassured as he placed a hand on his brothers back.

  
With slow steps Cracker stumbled , teetering and tottered towards the bathroom door with the help of his brother, once the door frame was in reach he gave a smile and grabbed onto it “I can take it from here. My dignity may be at rock bottom but I don’t want it to start digging.” He gave a bitter laugh and pushed the door open, he’d had enough humiliation as it was, he didn’t want to further it by having his brother help him bathe.

  
Nodding Katakuri let go and retrieved the clothes from the bed “Very well, I’ll be here so just call if you need anything.” With that Cracker took the clothes and went into the bathroom, shutting and locking the door behind him.

  
Standing there until he heard the water begin to run Katakuri let out an exasperated sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose.  
Going to the balcony he sat down on one of the chairs, out of all his siblings Cracker was one of the few who Katakuri held the most love for, of course he loved all his siblings dearly but a few were more special to him for a few reasons. Either they were raised by his hand or they had shown themselves to be brave warriors like himself and Cracker had both. Being the second son Katakuri shouldered immense responsibility even as a child, whereas Perospero was raised to believe his mothers empire could one day be his and he needed to be just like her in order to govern it Katakuri was tasked with helping his siblings with whatever they needed. He had fond memories of each younger sibling in their young years, the few that stood out most had been Galette, Cracker, Mascarpone, Praline and Pudding. They too had all been bullied relentlessly by their own siblings and ostracized until they proved their worth, they all had something that made them rejects or monsters to others.

  
Closing his eyes he took the time to relax, saddened that he had to miss his anniversary to further crush his brothers spirit and go take a daughter from her home. This was far from what he’d planned for today. Especially when he knew he'd have the task of helping Cracker prepare for the wedding and life after, such was the task of an elder brother.

* * *

 

 

**_Meanwhile in the territory of Red-Hair Shanks_ **

Groaning and grumbling as he shambled along the hallway Shanks could only imagine how much he’d have to lie his ass off to Big Mom now. He knew full well Luffy had been in his territory, he was the one who gave the green light for them to enter in the first place! Feigning ignorance could only get him so far in this situation, maybe he could offer her some candy or some delicacies to smooth things over with him.  
Having been told by Beckman that Big Mom had called and was demanding to speak to him there was little he could say in protest, he’d expected this eventually and had a nice list of lies and bribes lined up to help ease tensions.

  
Most of the crew had assembled on the deck where the den-den Moshi of big mom had been placed, with hushed voices and quiet whispers they speculated as to what would happen.

  
As Shanks came up onto the deck the crew quieted down and watched their captain, sitting at the table he picked up the receiver, a bottle of rum in his hand he took a quick swig before he spoke “Ah, Linlin, how lovely of you to call. It’s been too long since we last spoke, how have you been?” Shanks asked in an all too delighted tone, knowing full well how she was and how things were.

“Don’t pull that crap with me, Red Hair! You know full well why I’m calling and that you need to pay for what you did! You let those traitors in your territory and blatantly let them leave with your blessing. That was the last straw!” The giantess shouted back at him, only causing a shit-eating grin to form on the other Yonkos face.  
“I’ve just found out about what happened and I was shocked to hear that they got past us and went undetected! I feel so guilty about not being able to help a fellow Yonko out and I will surely make this up to you.” Shanks replied while he set his bottle on the table and crossed his fingers behind his back, it was childish and silly but he had to get his laughs somehow.

  
Some of the crew smiled and shook their heads at their captains actions, most of all the daughter in question.  
“Really, Red Hair? Because I have quite a proposal for you, well, more aimed towards someone else on your ship but as the captain this decision rests entirely in your hands, ah I mean hand. It’s a proposal you’d be wise not to refuse.” Big mom snickered, if Shanks was to make it up to her then she had just the deal for him.  
The grin faded and was replaced with a scowl, did she want to take a member of his crew into hers to signify unity? Would she ask to borrow his chef again to make food for her? Or once more would his shipwright be made an offer by Big Mom?

  
Now the crew didn’t dare make comment or smile, this wasn’t something to take jokingly, if two Yonko were making deals then it was a serious and dangerous matter.  
“You can’t have Lucky Roo, you’re not poaching Higgs, I am not sending Beckman to work under a Sweet Commander. We have been through this already.” Shanks huffed and grabbed his bottle, taking a large gulp and sighing.

  
It was time for Big Mom to reveal her trump cards for this game, she had no need for his cook or Shipwright at the moment, maybe after they were on better terms but now she had to fix the damage Strawhat had done.

 

“Shanks, I have armadas at quite a few islands outside your territory that fly your flag, with one call I will have them obliterated and my attack will spark a war.. You wouldn’t want so many innocent lives to be lost because of your stupid mouth so you should consider what you say very carefully.” Her voice was as soft as butter but her words certainly were not.

  
Gritting his teeth Shanks let out a hiss, if Big Mom was willing to start a war over whatever she wanted then it must be important to her. If the Matriarch was telling the truth then there’d be tens of thousands who would die in a fight between Yonkos, civilians, allies, unlucky pirates who get caught in crossfire. There was no telling what the outcome would be between Yonko in the New World.

  
He at least had to hear her offer.

  
“I’m listening, what’s your proposal.” He responded, his demeanor shifted in a matter of seconds, the joking and fun captain had been replaced with the no-nonsense hard faced one.

  
Among the crew they shared worried glances and shifted nervously. One who had been paying little attention finally felt the need to set her stitching work aside and move out from the cool shade behind Lucky Roo, after all, any major decisions concerning the captain concerned his daughter too.

“The lack of communication and bonds between us led to this disaster, I’m not unreasonable and I’m not going to hold you accountable. To strengthen the bond between us as Yonko and solidify our unity I have made a decision. One of my sons is to marry your daughter.”  
At those words the bottle fell from Shanks’ hand and shattered on the ground.

  
‘ _It must be this killer hangover, I must’ve heard wrong. She couldn’t have asked me to marry off my daughter so easily. Maybe it’s just a joke_ ’ Shanks thought, trying to rationalize what he had just heard.

Angry murmurs came from the crew as eyes went from Shanks to his daughter, rooted to where she was stood, eyes wide in disbelief as she began to process the situation for what it was.

  
Still in a state of shock the Red-Haired captain shook his head slowly “W-what? Please tell me this killer hangover made me hear incorrectly or miss part of that sentence.” He whispered with a soft chuckle, trying to pretend it was indeed the hangover that had him mishearing things.  
A loud cackle could be heard on the den-den Moshi, Big Mom couldn’t believe that the famed Red-Haired Shanks could have misheard or misunderstood.  
“Just because you amuse me I will say it once more. Your daughter will marry one of my sons or you and I are going to have a war, Shanks. We will be related by the marriage of our children or one of us is going to burn along with all they hold dear, children included. What shall it be, Shanks? Shall we have a wedding or a bloodbath?” Repeating her offer once more and in a clear tone Big Mom relished in the thought of how Shanks looked right now.

Nothing could be heard upon the deck now, stunned to silence the crew knew this was either going to kill their captain of grief or kill them by means of war. Neither were favorable options.

  
Now certain that he heard correctly the first time Shanks slumped forward in his chair, his head resting in his hand as he tried to think over his choices.  
His choices were quite simple; send his daughter into an arranged marriage or start a war the likes of which had never been seen.  
He couldn’t give his child away as if she were a kitten or a puppy, unlike his fellow Yonko he didn’t have eighty-five children to use as alliance pawns, he just had the one girl.  
Would he be willing to sacrifice the lives of thousands and have his crew, his allies risk everything for the sake of his child?

  
These options weighed heavily on him as he thought. Knowing he had to give an answer soon or face further issues he knew he had to ask the greatest sacrifice of someone who meant the world to him. Could he put his daughter above the lives of more than ten thousand innocent people and still have a clear enough conscience to sleep at night, or would he rather have the guilt and failure of having to use his child for the sake of peace?

  
Lifting his head he looked towards his daughter, giving her a sympathetic and apologetic look as he mouthed the words ‘ _Forgive me_ ’ before turning his attention back to the conversation at hand.

  
Closing his eyes he took a deep breath, trying to keep the tears from forming he opened his mouth to speak.

  
“I accept!” Another voice answered.

  
A look of twisted confusion warped onto his face as his eyes were drawn towards his daughter, now walking towards the table she grabbed the receiver “I’m Rosalina, the daughter of Red-Hair Shanks. I hereby accept the offer to marry one of your sons. There is no need for a war.” Her shaky voice continued as the crew looked at her with horrified expressions.

  
Without missing a beat Big Mom cackled manically “Accepting my offer yourself, a brave move, Rosalina. I’m sending my Sweet Commander Katakuri to get you, wait at the strip of no-mans-land bordering our territories. I’ll contact you tomorrow for further arrangements.” As soon as those words were spoken the den den Moshi shut off.  
Leaving all those aboard Red Force in disbelief and fear.

~~~~~~~

  
It’d been some hours since the offer was made by Big Mom, half the crew of Red Force were convinced it was all some dream and they’d wake up from it, the other half were trying to plan some sort of revolt or find a replacement marriage candidate.

Shanks had been locked in his study since then, not speaking a word to anyone or looking any of his crew in the eyes, he felt far too ashamed to do so at this time. While the captain was drowning his shame and sorrows in rum it’d been Beckman doing the damage control.

 

  
“What were you thinking? You’ve accepted her offer, you’re going to marry one of her lunatic kids! You know, when I said you’d break your fathers heart one day I did not mean like this!” Beckman scolded as he rolled up a newspaper to smack the girl in the back of the head, something he did quite often with disobedient members of the crew.  
Wincing in pain Rosalina sniffled and lowered her head, she knew her father had been backed into a corner by the Matriarch and he was not one to stand by and let needless slaughter happen, there was no choice but for him to accept the offer put before him.

  
“I had to. His heart would be breaking far worse right now if he’d had to say those words instead of me and you know it.” She cried as Lucky Roo tried in vain to give the girl some comfort.  
“Hay, it’ll be okay. Maybe you’ll get one of the good kids. I hear two of the Sweet Commanders are married and the last is in seclusion, as well as some of the crazier ones have died! Chances look good to get a good husband, you’re also technically gonna be a princess since Big mom is Queen of Totto Land.” He grinned and laughed nervously, if there was one thing Lucky Roo was good at it was being optimistic about even the worst of situations, giving her a gentle pat to the shoulder he set a plate of food in front of her.

  
While both Beckman and Roo began to bicker about the seriousness of the situation Rosalina pushed her plate aside, she knew she had to face the music and talk to her father sooner rather than later. Standing up from the table the two men stopped their petty arguing and looked to her “Thanks, Roo, but I’ll eat it later, I need to talk to my dad before this goes any further.” With a weak smile she left the mess hall and made her way towards her father’s study.

  
Even though Lucky Roo tried to look on the bright side there were still many sons who were far from stable, far older than she was and far more volatile than those who would be considered ‘good’ husband.

  
There’d been enough horror stories about the arranged marriages of big mom, the most being the recent attempts to wipe out Germa 66 disguised as a wedding, as well as the husband of a Sweet Commander being found unconscious with a broken wrist, a concussion and a fractured ankle just days after the wedding.

  
In truth Rosalina was terrified about what this held in store for her, unnerved at the thought of marrying a man she’d never met before, desolate at the idea of being in an unhappy marriage the rest of her life.

  
Stopping once she came to the door she knocked softly, when no reply came she jiggled the handle only to find it was locked “Dad, please open the door, I know you can hear me. Let me in, we need to talk.” Banging on the door once more she hit her head against it and grit her teeth.

  
“Please don’t shut me out again, not like this and not now! Dad, please, I’m scared and I don’t know what to do next.. I need you.” Rosalina cried as she burst out into tears, there was little to be done about the situation but having the ability to talk to her father about it would ease her worries, especially when she was at the center of this situation.  
Leaning against the door she sobbed quietly for a moment before hearing the lock click, the door creaked open as her father stood aside to let her in “Can you ever forgive me for this darling?” Was all he asked as she walked into the study, closing the door behind her he returned to his desk where he sat drinking. Shaking her head she wiped her tears “Forgive you for what? I made the decision to marry one of her sons not you. You aren’t allowed to drown yourself in booze and cry over stupid misplaced guilt.” With a sarcastic chuckle she grabbed the open bottle off the table and flopped down onto one of the armchairs.

  
Taking a large gulp she sighed and shook her head “Cry because your daughter is getting married by her own choice. Leave the hysterics and panicking to Beckman, you need to start celebrating because nothing to do about it now but find silver linings like Lucky Roo does.” After another few swigs of the drink she noticed her father had gotten another bottle and was drinking.

  
“What did I ever do to deserve a daughter like you? Willing to go into an arranged marriage because your old man wasn’t careful enough.. I swear I’m gonna find a way to make things right and if that husband doesn’t meet my standards that fat, uptight bitch can find you a better one! My girl deserves only the best of husbands.” Shanks laughed as tears ran down his face.

  
If even she could find a good way to look at this then surely he could try to the same, after all, it would be his daughters big day and as her father he had a duty to follow her wishes in regards to it.

 


	2. Farewell Festivities

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is chapter 2.  
> I hope you all enjoy it!  
> Please leave a kudos if you enjoyed and a comment if you feel like it~  
> I really appreciate it.  
> I do not own one Piece

It'd been two days since the decision had been made, there would be no war between Yonko but instead a wedding that would end the rising conflict between the two pirates, needless to say both marriage candidates were fearful of what awaited them. Cracker didn't so much as know the girls name and she hadn't heard much of any Sweet Commander besides the one coming to pick her up.

  
So far Big Mom had contacted Shanks twice more to discuss how things would proceed, Rosalinas dress would be chosen for her but she could provide the something old, borrowed and blue for herself and as an added reward for accepting the proposal herself she would be allowed to choose the flowers of her bouquet. It was a small gesture but it was one they were grateful for.

  
Dreading the thought of this entire situation Shanks had continued to be miserable and would sit in his study as Red Force drew ever closer, the crew had switched between sheer panic and hysteric wailing over what was to come.

  
Ever since her mothers passing Rosalina had always stayed with the crew, if ever she was to be left on an island while dangerous missions were carried out she would have at least two people to act as her guards, now she wasn't sure if she'd be allowed to see them once she was married. Having doubts that Big Mom would let her father visit whenever she pleased she had divided her time into three sections.

  
First she needed to pack and organise, no doubt Big Mom would want her living with whatever son she was to marry. Second was spending as much time with her father as possible, she knew it was breaking his heart to have this happen so soon after he’d celebrated the happy wedding of his best friend. Third was to spend time with the crew and make sure to leave happy memories behind, she couldn’t sit and let them act like hysteric old ladies when they could be celebrating.

  
With the Captain mourning the impending wedding of his daughter and the daughter in question running from task to task it left only Beckman as competent leader. Though under the circumstances he was as devastated as Shanks was by the idea of such a wedding, having watched Rosalina grow up from the very day she was born it was as if he was losing a child of his own by this.

  
“Depending on which brat you end up with this may not be entirely bad.” The woman sighed as she lit a cigarette, having been asked by Rosalina to help with packing she was all too happy to oblige.

  
Oliva closed the trunk filled with clothes and locked it tight “I’ve dated all kinds of men so don’t you worry your sweet head about a thing, once we know who your set to marry aunt Olivia can help you get whatever you want from it.” She smirked as she lifted the heavy trunk from the bed and set it with the others by the door.  
Rolling her eyes Rosalina chuckled, of course Oliva was known to have near endless relationships that always ended with her breaking it off, she could play a man like a fiddle with a few well-placed smiled and the bat of her eyelashes “Yeah I’ll let you know if I need help with that.” She hummed in response, more focused with collecting her books from their shelves before stacking them neatly in another trunk, she would only bring what she needed most before the wedding, the rest of her stuff would be sent on to her new home once they found out who she would marry.

  
“It isn’t ideal but you know if this does work out and you play your cards right you could have a good marriage. I’ve never been married myself but I do know that communication is needed for any relationship.” Oliva continued to give advice as she moved on to clearing away some things from on top of the dresser.  
Rosalina hadn’t been paying very much attention at all, as much as she tried to find silver lining to this there didn’t seem to be many things in her favor, it seemed more like Big Mom was the one who would benefit the most from this, not her, not her father and probably not her future husband.

  
For the next hour or so they packed and tidied in silence, occasionally tossing things to one another or giving shrugs at forgotten items that had been found in random places of the room. There were still a few things to sort but she didn’t have the time to deal with them before she was to leave.  
They had already entered the No-Man’s Land and were keeping a vigilant watch for any signs of approaching ships.

  
Shanks had finally managed to pull himself together and for the first time since hearing the offer from Big Mom he stepped onto the deck of Red Force, the crew were relieved to see their captain hadn’t killed himself via alcohol poisoning or choked on excessive amounts of rum and sake during his days locked in his study.  
It was no surprise to him that his crew were planning a big farewell dinner for Rosalina before she was to leave, to them it just seemed sad to let her leave without a good dinner and a party since the next time they saw her would be on her wedding day, it was their final chance to give her a proper goodbye. With the approval of Shanks they went into overdrive to get everything ready in record time.

  
Watching his crew scramble and race to prepare the celebratory meal Shanks found Beckman sitting on the rails drinking a bottle of sake, finally able to get some peace from the chatter and panic that was going on around them.

  
“There you are, I’m glad you’re here because I need to talk to you.” Shanks muttered as he leaned against the rails, giving a sympathetic smile to his first mate “I haven’t handled the last few days well and I left you to deal with the mess I made, not very captain-like and I’m sorry.” He huffed running his hand through his hair. It wasn’t fair that Beckman had to do both the jobs of first mate and captain, especially when the captain should have pulled himself together to set a good example.  
Taking a swig from the bottle Beckman chuckled and shook his head “No apology needed, you needed time to come to terms with this situation and you needed to spend quality time with your daughter, I can hardly blame you for being distraught after what little Rosie did.” Offering the bottle to his captain it was quickly taken. Shanks would need all the booze he could get for tonight.

  
He was anxious as to when the Sweet Commander would arrive to take his daughter away, knowing full well he wouldn’t see her again until she was in her wedding dress, the mere thought had tears welling in his eyes again. There was no two ways about this, his daughter would be married and it mattered very little what his opinion was on it.  
Letting her go onto a different ship with complete stranger to be alone in a new land didn’t sit right with him. She would be isolated and at the mercy of the Charlotte family, despite the agreement that no harm would be done as long as everyone remained peaceful Shanks felt uneasy, it would be easy to keep his daughter as a hostage and use her as a tool against him. This thought had crossed the minds of the crew too, it had been the topic of conversation over their breakfast with nothing but more panic and stress coming from it.

  
Once more Shanks needed to ask something of one he held dear, he couldn’t let Rosalina go by herself, even if she could fight and defend well there were members of the Charlotte family far stronger than her, taking a few mouthfuls of sake Shanks had soon emptied the bottle, it wasn’t good for him but it sure did help numb the pain.

  
“Beckman, I need yo-”  
“I’m going with her.” Beckman interrupted with a huff, he’d decided earlier that morning that eventually as his captains most trusted friend he would be asked to watch over Rosalina until they knew she was going to be safe. Having packed what he may need Beckham only had to wait until his captained dared bring it up.

  
Like Rosalina, he knew it was easier to be the one saying the hard stuff than waiting around for Shanks to do it, it was better than having to hear him say the words and know how bad it hurt for him to say them.

  
“She’ll need someone to have her back and I’m the best man for the job. I’ll be able to keep an eye on Big Mom and her family right up until the wedding day so they won’t try anything sketchy. I’m packed and ready to go so just let me go with your blessing, captain.” Beckman boasted as he got off the rails and crossed his arms, a smart grin plastered onto his face as he raised an eyebrow to his captain.

  
All Shanks could do in response was to laugh as he threw the empty bottle overboard and pressed his hand to his forehead, the fact that both his daughter and first mate were willing to drop everything else in their lives to help him was reason enough for him to try minimise the suffering of both.  
“Why is it that you two always have to beat me to the punch? It’s like neither of you wanna let me make any of the tough decisions lately but thank you, Beckham.” Reaching up Shanks gave his old friend a pat on the shoulder “There’s no one else I could trust to go watch over my daughter until her wedding day.. Just make sure the fucker who is marrying Rosalina is up to my standards, Big Mom can find another groom if this one isn’t good enough for her.” With a hearty laugh Shanks decided to retire to the mess hall to see how the preparations were coming on.

  
Beckman furrowed his brow “Dammit, Shanks, by your standards no man is good enough for her. I’m not gonna go repeating that to the fucking crazy hag!” He shouted after his captain but received only a thumbs up before he disappeared.

* * *

  
**Two days ago on Whole Cake Island**

“B-but I don’t know how to be a husband! I don’t know how to be a good husband! Katakuri, I can’t get married!” Cracker wailed as he buried his head in his trembling hands.  
Why did his mother want him to get married, getting to marry was either for the children who’d pleased her greatly or the tactful ones who could use it to their advantage and to Cracker he was neither of those things, he was undeserving of marriage.

  
Katakuri sighed and continued to eat, this was exactly how he knew it would go. Not five minutes into his Merienda and Cracker was already wailing, his brother didn’t know why he bothered, no amount of tears or shouting could stop one of mamas marriages from going ahead. It was much easier to plan for future problems as opposed to the unchangeable ones at current times.

  
But least he had some insight for his brother on regards to being a husband, he’d managed to have a stable marriage for six years now without a single word of separation or a divorce.

  
“Being a good husband takes time and you don’t learn it overnight, little brother, believe me I went down that road and it’s easier to learn over time. You can and will be getting married so don’t make it difficult, mama has been working hard to get this and if anything goes wrong it’s you, me, the girl and Smoothie who are gonna be killed.” Continuing to stuff his face full of doughnuts and tea Katakuri sat back in the armchair.

  
It was relaxing to have Merienda with his brother again, Katakuri knew he needn’t fear removing his scarf when alone with his brother. Cracker had never uttered a single word of disgust or mockery towards his mouth and had at one point as a child gotten upset because he didn’t have a ‘cool’ looking mouth like his brother, thus Cracker had been someone he could trust to see his mouth outside of a worst-case scenario event. It was good to have a sibling he could relax around.

  
Cracker sat in his bed, only having half-finished the food Streusen had prepared to help him regain his strength before Katakuri had begun filling him in on what their mother had planned. Now with tears running down his face he couldn’t help but see the utter irony of this situation and began to laugh quietly.  
“It has to be more punishment.. Who’d wanna marry me? I’m a disgraced Sweet Commander who couldn’t beat a couple of kids or warn everyone. No one would want to marry such a failure, she’ll just laugh at me and leave me.” The Sweet Commander continued to laugh and giggle to himself as he shook his head.

  
This worried Katakuri quite a bit, enough for him to toss aside his doughnut and go to his brothers side, placing a hand on his brothers shoulder he sighed “Cracker, listen, if I married someone willing to kiss my deformed and fucked up mouth every night then I think it’s relatively safe to say the daughter of Red-Hair shanks will be content to marry you.” As soon as the words left his mouth Katakuri regretted it, being subtle about the truth wasn’t going to make it any easier for Cracker but being blunt wouldn’t do much either.

  
Crackers head snapped up as wide eyes stared at his brother. So that was his bride then, the child of another Yonko, he didn’t even know Shanks had a child but apparently he was going to be the one marrying her.

  
As the child of a Yonko herself and with dozens of siblings himself Cracker could only imagine what his bride would be like. Would she be deceptive and cruel, or would she be manipulative and malicious towards him?

  
His breathing soon became rapid and shaky, there was no way he could get to marry someone as important as that without some ulterior motive being at work.  
“Okay, you need to calm down, Cracker, take deep breaths and try relax for me. This isn’t as bad as you think it’ll be, there’s still more for you to know.” It took a moment for Cracker to do as his brother asked, there wasn’t much else to say that could worsen this for him.

  
Assuming that there couldn’t be more ways for his situation to deteriorate Cracker took slow, deep breaths and took a minute to compose himself. After all he was still a Sweet Commander and however fragile his mind and body were right now he had to get both back into shape before he disappointed mama again.

  
“Alright, guess you have better news than the fact I’m marrying the daughter of a Yonko and someones whose bounty exceeds even yours, or the fact that I’m dead if I fail once more, or the news that my brother is missing his anniversary to babysit my lousy ass.” Laughing sarcastically as he leaned back against the headboard he was almost convinced this was some waking nightmare, that he’d be pulled back to reality and find he was nothing more than a soul confined to a box.

  
Considering what he’d been through in the past few weeks Katakuri was surprised Cracker remembered his anniversary at all, even he’d forgotten until a few days prior when Smoothie had asked if they had special plans for the day. Forgetting such a day would surely have seen him sleeping on the floor for the next month.

“While you were in the bathroom I made some calls and got what information I could on your bride. Mama told me I’m to go collect her and I need to leave at dawn, but I have asked Dante to help you until I get back so you won’t be alone. While I’m gone I’ll see what I can do about explaining this to her, lord knows both of you will need the help.” Katakuri huffed, before rubbing his temples. Being tasked with so much in a short amount of time was sure to wear him down but at least he knew Cracker would be in safe hands.

  
Cracker smiled, he’d always liked his brother-in-law, even more so because of the fact he wasn’t intentionally cruel and had a genuine love for Katakuri, in truth Cracker was a little jealous of his brothers happy marriage.

  
It constantly amazed him the lengths the Mochi man went to in order to aid his siblings, even if they weren’t among his most loved siblings he would do all he could to assist them in times of need. He could rest a little easier knowing more of his bride-to-be.  
“Thank you, Katakuri. I really appreciate all you’re doing to help me, I’ll be sure to repay you in the future, that is if I still have one ahead of me.” Sniffling quietly he rubbed his eyes, it was embarrassing to be sitting in bed weeping over his own wedding.

  
Nodding his head Katakuri grabbed a doughnut and began to eat once more, wanting to get some more food in his stomach before they ran into more problems. Cracker ate his food quickly and quietly, if he was to be married that meant all eyes would be on him soon, it wouldn’t do to be looking in such a sorry state as he did now. He needed to look his best not only to meet his mothers expectations but also for his bride.  
Once he had scarfed down all his food and drank all his tea Katakuri sat on the bed and licked his lips, he did love his Snack Times very much, more so when he could share them with others.

  
“Alright. Her name is Rosalina, she’s about twenty-two or twenty- three years old at the moment. No previous engagements or marriages but there have been proposals in the past, can fight well considering her father forbids her to get involved in his fights.. She seems to be well loved among her fathers crew and allies. With a little work it might turn out okay, common interests provided and mutual respect granted.” Katakuri had spent a good fifteen minutes calling all his informants to see who knew about Red-Hairs child, followed by another fifteen minutes of hearing what information there was on her, important facts were mixed in with mundane information Cracker would have to discover himself.  
“I don’t know what she looks like yet but I’ll send a picture once we pick her up, I’ll also bring one of you so it’s a fair trade. While I’m gone try not to anger mama, Smoothie is still off training so you need to be careful. I've asked Dante to come help you while I'm away, he said he'd leave immediately so he'll be here with you. Please try not to get him into trouble. ” He warned, he knew Cracker wouldn’t purposely enrage his mother or upset her willingly but with how he was it wouldn’t be a surprise if his mouth ran away with him and he started pitching a fit over the wedding.

  
At least he could rely on Dante to try keep the peace while he was away, mama did have a fondness for the boy, him being the reason Katakuri had his bounty raised the last two times.  
Pinching the bridge of his nose Cracker huffed, he’d have to get everything in order before Katakuri returned. He hoped his servants back on Biscuit Island were doing alright without him there, it wasn’t going to be easy going back home with a wife when he’d originally left for his sister’s wedding.  
He could only imagine their shock over hearing he was punished and then to be married.

 

* * *

 

**Aboard Red Force**

  
Rosalina had been surprised to say the least, she hadn’t expected to get such a fun filled send-off considering the circumstances surrounding it. Now instead of being caught in a panicked haze they were content to make her last night aboard Red Force one that would be remembered.  
The tables of the mess hall were laid out with giant platters and bowls of food along with enough alcohol to keep them partying for days, it was clear they’d need it after she’d left.

  
While everyone chatted and hollered amongst themselves Shanks leaned back in his chair and gave a smile, it wasn’t exactly the send-off he wanted to give his daughter before her wedding but then again he’d never thought of her marrying, not unless someone deserving of her were to come along and win her heart.  
“Dad, you promised no tears, save it for the wedding.” Rosalina whispered as she leaned over with a scowl, having made him agree to no tears at her farewell party she was happy to agree that he could cry and be as hysteric a father as he wished on the big day.

  
Wiping the tears away he chuckled, it wasn’t as if anyone cared if cried, more than half the crew had been blubbering and wailing whilst preparing the party. Those of the crew who had been with Shanks since before her birth done nothing but spit swears and curses to Big Mom for doing this, those who’d joined when Rosalina was a child wept at the thought of such a sweet girl having to marry some brute, newer members complained at the unfair reality that she was now facing.  
“Sorry, your dear old dad didn’t think you’d have a pre-wedding party so young. I thought I had at least another five to ten years before this. You’re too young to get married.” Shanks huffed having convinced himself long ago that it’d be hard to find anyone suitable enough to marry her, he’d caused enough problems for anyone who’d tried dating her and chased them off before it got serious enough for marriage to be on the table.

  
“You got married when you were seventeen and had a clown conduct the ceremony, I’ve seen the photo albums so you can’t make complaints.” Rosalina snorted before shoveling more of the delicious fried rice into her mouth, she sure would miss Lucky Roos’ cooking when she was gone, it was no wonder Big Mom had tried to offer him a position as a chef.

  
Shanks could not fault her reasoning, his own wedding had taken place less than a week after blurting out a half assed proposal, needless to say he had his work cut out for him when he’d asked his old friend to help out and host the reception, the red nosed jester nearly hit the roof at such a request.

  
He only hoped his daughter could find some happiness from all of this, he was already broken hearted that she’d marry a stranger and the thoughts of it being an unhappy marriage were near crippling for him.

  
“Dad, I swear I’m taking that fucking booze away if you keep this up.” Rosalina snapped before snatching the bottle of sake from her father, it was hard enough having to leave but she didn’t want to see her father crying for the rest of the night.  
Grumbling and pouting Shanks stood up from his chair “I’ll go get some fresh air and pull it together. Gimme five minutes.” He grunted before taking the bottle back from her.  
Walking towards the deck he stopped at the kitchen to see how Lucky Roo and the others were coping with the food “Dessert’s gonna be a bit late since they’re really chowing down on everything else. I have her favourites all ready to go for dessert, captain!” Lucky Roo hollered with a massive grin on his face, his small team of little helpers rushing about the kitchen with icing bags and mixing bowls in hand.

  
He could always trust Lucky Roo to make the best of food for every occasion.  
Continuing up to the deck Shanks yawned, not having slept much the past few days he was kept upright by the copious amounts of caffeine and alcohol in his system.  
“Shanks, I think you’d best go get Rosalina, those fuckers knew what answer they’d get and apparently we don’t have until tomorrow.” He heard Beckman yelling from the other end of the deck, eyes snapping open Shanks rushed towards the front of the ship, almost running smack into one of the palm trees on the deck.  
To his horror a ship flying the flag of Big Mom was approaching, they’d all thought Rosalina would be picked up sometime tomorrow, giving them plenty of time to party and rest before her goodbye.

  
Smashing the bottle on the deck he shook his head, there was no way he’d let their farewell party be ruined by party crashers “Great, they can get an early night and set sail tomorrow, we’re in the middle of something.” He growled.

  
It wasn’t long before the large ship came along side Red Force, the ships were similar in size except for the giant Homie sails the Charlotte ship boasted.  
Laying eyes on the gigantic Sweet Commander that stood waiting Shanks scowled “You weren’t supposed to be here until morning.”  
Katakuri simply gave a shrug, it wasn’t his fault the winds had been good to them “We had good weather, it couldn’t have been helped.” A new voice chimed in.  
Out from behind her brother came Charlotte Galette, a smirk plastered on her face as she approached the railing, taking a good look at Shanks and his first mate she tilted her head. The Minister of Butter grinned as she climbed the railed and moved her foot across to make the jump over the gap.  
“It sounds like you’re having quite the party, then again you are legendary for them, Red Hair.” The young woman laughed before easily jumping the small gap between ships, standing on the rails of Red Force she sat down and crossed her legs.

  
Instinctively Beckman pulled his gun on her, as far as he was concerned she was an uninvited enemy crashing a party “I suggest you get back on your ship and wait until morning, this is a farewell party and I don’t recall you pair getting an invitation.” Shanks spat, thoroughly displeased with the sudden arrivals, all he needed was for them to show up and take Rosalina right in the middle of her own party, that really would be putting salt in his wounds.

  
Galette pouted and shook her head as Katakuri bridged the gap between the ships in one quick move, the Sweet Commander glared down at both of the men, rather offended to have had a gun pointed at his darling sister.

  
“Hardly, the weather was good and we are on time, now if you must point a gun at someone then point at me instead of my sister.” Katakuri warned, he didn’t want to make this anymore painful than it would be but if he felt they were threatened as a Sweet Commander he was required to act.  
Shanks put his head in his hand and sighed deeply, if he caused a scene the party would be ruined, if he didn’t do something they might just take Rosalina without so much as a goodbye.

  
“Dad~, Beckman~, Lucky Roo says you both need to get your asses back down to the party!” Rosalina sang as she ran up onto the deck, having noticed both her father and his first mate missing from the party she sought out Lucky Roo in the kitchens. Hearing that dessert would be served soon she dashed up to the deck to make sure they wouldn’t miss it.

  
Her bright smile soon faded when she saw what was happening on deck, recoiling back for a second she averted her eyes. She wasn’t ready to go yet, she hadn’t said her goodbyes or had any of Lucky Roos delicious cake.

  
Taking a deep breath she approached Beckman, it was clear he was making some sort of threat to either the gigantic man or the woman seated on the rails, whichever one he was threatening would surely make trouble later if this wasn’t sorted.  
Placing her hand on Beckmans arm she forced him to lower the gun, shaking her head slowly, with little persuasion he holstered his gun and nodded.  
Turning her attention to who she assumed would be her new siblings-in- law she was at a loss for words.

  
Both Charlotte children looked the girl up and down, there wasn’t much in the way of family resemblance between her and Shanks.  
With her brownish red hair and chocolate eyes the girl could easily claim to not be affiliated with the Red-Haired pirate, if it hadn’t been for her outwardly calling Shanks ‘dad’ neither would have needed firm confirmation of who she was, lest they end up being tricked with a decoy. More resembling her mother than her father the only tell-tale sign that the two were related was the deathly scowls and glares the two gave off.

  
“Oh.. W-well. D-do I have to leave right now?” Rosalina asked nervously, moving closer to her dad and grabbing his arm, not only as a source of comfort but to keep him from pulling out gryphon.

  
Galette and Katakuri looked at one another, there was no real need to take the girl immediately, neither wanted to start a fight either since they could make good time on the return trip, hostilities before the wedding would not be something their mother wanted to hear either.  
“We’ve actually arrived on time thanks to some strong winds. Since you seem to be having a farewell party it’d be cruel to just snatch you up and sail away.” Galette explained getting off the rails she approached her soon to be sister-in-law, taking the girls hand she smiled “I guess I should start calling you little sister now, huh, Rosalina?” The woman laughed.

  
Katakuri knew what his sister was doing, playing nice to get on the girls good side straight off the bat, she certainly wasn’t wasting any time in making her own allies. Rolling his eyes Katakuri decided to start where his sister had preferred to not.  
“Introductions are not my sisters strong point, I apologise. I am Charlotte Katakuri, Sweet Commander and the Minister of Flour. This is my younger sister, Charlotte Galette the Minister of Butter.” He gestured to himself and then to his younger sister, giving her a quick glare, he knew his sister was eager to meet Crackers bride but not that eager to get on her good side.

  
“Good, we all know each other. Now get off my ship until tomorrow, we’re in the middle of something and you weren’t invited.” Shanks snapped at the party crashers, earning himself a scowl not only from the Charlotte siblings but his own daughter as well.  
Rosalina had always heard her father say ‘the more the merrier’ in regards to parties or celebrations, he’d never turned friends or stranger away from one of his gatherings and prided himself on his warm welcomes.

  
Shaking her head Rosalina let go of her father “What happened to your ‘the more the merrier’ sentiment when it came to parties? It’s exactly what you said when my sixteenth birthday ended up as a three day drinking match between you and Hawk-eyes.” The girl nagged, as much as she appreciated the birthday parties she wasn’t all that appreciative of having it turned into a three day bender between a Yonko and a Warlord.

  
Turning her attention back to the two Charlotte siblings she sighed “You’re invited to stay if you’d like. We have all sorts of food and drink, Lucky Roo is about to serve up dessert so there’s plenty to go around, the more the merrier.” Rosalina offered, knowing her father would remain petty and snarky on the subject out of sheer displeasure for the situation.

  
Galette was delighted by the invitation, she’d been curious about the crew aboard Red Force and eager to see if they truly did live up to the stories surrounding them, before she could respond Katakuri spoke “Thank you, but once the food has been finished we must take our leave. Mama wants to meet you as soon as possible and the quicker you arrive the more time you’ll have to get acquainted with your betrothed.”

  
Hating that once again he had to play the bad guy, Katakuri saw how much this was hurting both Shanks and his daughter, ending their celebrations early meant they could be back on Whole Cake Island in less than two days if they had a strong wind.

  
Having already seen how this would go Katakuri knew it was going to be this way and was certain there would be plenty of tears in the process.  
Gritting his teeth Shanks shook his head, it was bad enough being backed into such a corner he needed to depend on his daughter sacrifice to keep the peace but now they wouldn’t get a proper goodbye either, Big Mom knew they had no options but to obey and she certainly wanted them to be reminded.  
It was crucial that he keep his cool, one wrong placed word and it could cost his daughter her life, no doubt that was why the Sweet Commander with the highest bounty for this job, the behemoth of a man could pose even a challenge for even Shanks to defeat.

  
“Of course, but only after we have finished and not a moment sooner. My chef has worked very hard on making Rosalinas favourite foods for tonight and the crew will want to say their goodbyes.” Turning his back to them Shanks sighed and shook his head before heading back down to the party, fearful he’d say something he’d regret if he continued talking.

  
Leaving Rosalina and Beckman with the two Charlotte siblings the two looked at another with a look of surprise, both had expected there to be some sort of shouting match when it came down to it.

  
Taking a cigar from his jacket pocket Beckman lit it, if his captain was playing nice he’d have to follow suit as a good example for the rest “Head on back, kiddo, you shouldn’t be missing your own party. I’ll be down in a sec.” Tussling the girls hair Beckman smirked, turning her around he nudged her towards the stairs. It wouldn’t do to have their guest of honour missing her celebration.

  
Rolling her eyes Rosalina took the hint, whatever Beckman was up to he certainly didn’t want her know, captains child or not it wasn’t her place to question or undermine what the first mate of the ship did.

  
“Alright, alright, I know when I’m not wanted.” Rosalina huffed and held her hands up as she walked.  
Galette jumped down off the railings and was quick to catch up, taking her soon-to-be sisters arm she smiled warmly “I’ve heard your fathers parties are just to die for, I hope you won’t mind showing me if that’s actually true.” Galette smirked as she looked back to her elder brother, only to receive a scornful look.  
If she was in Rosalinas good book logic dictated that Galette would also get into the good books of Shanks and his crew, Katakuri had to admit it was a clever move.  
Even if Galette was willing to play nice and try to make friends Katakuri couldn’t pull the same tricks. By way of his Haki he was aware Rosalina would have a chaperone to accompany her, if Shanks didn’t get his own way on that there would be blood drawn.

  
It was already more than apparent that Shanks could only be pushed so far and the limit seemed to be cutting his daughter off from the safety of those she trusted, to Katakuri it wasn’t worth starting a fight over, Ben Beckman wouldn’t pose much of a threat.

  
He needed things to go as smooth as possible, any problems caused by him or Galette would most likely leave Rosalina bitter and resentful towards the Charlotte family.  
“I’m aware she will have a chaperone accompanying her until the wedding. You are the right hand man to your captain so there would be no one he’d trust more for the task but if you cause any problems I won’t hesitate to stop you.” Katakuri huffed as he shook his head, playing the nice guy was not something he could pull off like Galette so easily did, he did have moments where he could make the lives of others easier but he made sure those times didn’t happen often.  
Beckman just gave a nod and continued to smoke his cigar, now wondering if the rumours of the monstrous Charlotte Children were true seeing as how one known for his sadistic brutality seemed to behave in such a civil manner.

When Rosalina returned back to the mess hall with Galette at her side she was met with angry eyes and grumbles, obviously Shanks made it known that they had new guests who just so happened to be there to take Rosalina away.

  
With a furrowed brow Galette leaned in close to Rosalina “Is this how they greet everyone or did we arrive unfashionably late?” the Minister of Butter asked in a hushed tone, knowing full well her presence was most likely going to cause tension among others.  
Shaking her head Rosaline led her back towards where she had been sitting with her father, finding him in the middle of chugging down a mug of good beer, no doubt to calm himself and to drown his sorrows.

  
Galette really had to give the red haired pirate, for someone of his age to be able to drink such amounts of alcohol so regularly it was amazing his liver hadn’t been destroyed by now.  
Almost ignoring what Rosalina was saying to her Galette grabbed an empty plate and began piling it with food, she wasn’t about to turn down a good meal by one of the best cooks in the New World, nodding her head frequently she feigned interest in hearing about the surly pirates glaring at her “Oh I understand, I’m the big bad meanie here to steal you away, we expected as much.” She hummed giving a sympathetic look.  
~

 

  
Once the pirates had sulked enough the party returned to full swing, the presence of Galette and Katakuri at the captain’s table was just barely tolerated due to Rosalinas welcoming nature towards the two, even if Katakuri had barely spoken to her.

  
The night went on as originally planned, there was booze, food, fun and then to top it all off there was the desserts. Lucky Roo had pulled out all the stops for making it perfect, the cake was excessively large and was adorned by smaller cupcakes, icing, strawberries and even sparklers. It was quite clear Lucky Roo had been planning the cake since the day Rosalina accepted the offer, then again someone had to try make it less of a miserable affair.

  
While the opportunity was there Galette pulled a small Cameko den-den Moshi, Katakuri had mentioned needed a picture to send along to Cracker and what better chance than when she was in utter delight at her special cake.

  
“Oh this’ll look great.” Galette exclaimed with glee as she snapped the photo, immediately trying to make her sudden desire for pictures less suspicious she turned and took another photo of the cake and then another of Katakuri.

  
By now he was far less than impressed with his sisters sneaky tactics, he was now unsure if this was still part of her act or if she was genuinely trying to welcome the girl to their family. Whichever was the case he was absolutely certain Shanks wouldn’t let the party die down for hours, it was just one more passive aggressive tactic in his arsenal.

Taking a deep breath he let out a heavy sigh as he grabbed the Cameko from Galette “That’s enough of that foolery, it’s going to be a long night so try to remain sober. Mama will be mad if you were to get drunk and something didn't go according to plan."

 


	3. Fond Farewells

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahahaha!  
> Here is chapter 3!  
> We are starting to go places and get characters and personalities sorted out.  
> Please let me know what you think so far and I hope you enjoy this chapter.  
> I do not own One Piece.

Cracker had been trying to cope as best he could, though there wasn’t an abundance of methods to help with coping which left him at quite a loss. So long being locked away, kept in the dark without no light, no sense of  touch, no notion of what would be happening next, it had taken a toll on him.

Even though his physical strength was returning his mental state simply wasn’t following suit. Staring blankly out the window he gave a sigh.

The thoughts of the marriage weighed heavily on him, Cracker had little experience with women outside his own family and had always been so eager to please his mother he’d abandoned the notion of having a relationship before meeting his mother’s approval.

“Dante, how do I be a good husband?” Cracker asked, finally tearing his empty gaze from the window, now setting it on the young man sat in his favourite armchair.

Looking up from his book the man set it aside and took off his reading glasses, a conversation he knew would happen but had been reluctant to bring up himself, pondering on it for a moment he smiled “Half the advice I have on being a good husband is utterly useless on you, Cracker.” Getting up from the chair Dante made his way over to the large bed.

“But, I can tell you what she will need once she arrives. I know that position and it’s a very frightening one to be in. Arranged marriages aren’t all fairy tales and happy endings like in books.” Trying to word it as best he could Dante know phrasing it right could make or break what little progress Cracker was making.

He loved his brother-in-law dearly and it was horrifying to think the once overly confident and boastful young man who’d helped him so much was now trying to put his fractured mind back together for his wedding day. Though Dante counted his blessings that Katakuri would be overseeing everything Cracker did before the big day, if it had been a different brother it may have only served to worsen things.

Nodding his head Cracker frowned, at their first meeting Dante had been so meek, so recused and so saddened; even if it was his wedding day the fake smile he had painted on was a clear warning that something wasn’t quite right.

“You were scared, I remember that pretty well. You didn’t get to meet Katakuri until you were at the altar, all you knew is you were getting married and had no choice.” Cracker muttered, his big brother’s wedding was one he remembered so clearly. Katakuri had been shocked at his mother’s decision to let him marry, at that point in his life Katakuri had disclosed his sexuality to three people at most, none of which had included their mother.

Sitting down on the bed Dante sighed, he could only imagine how to poor bride-to-be was feeling; he knew what these arranged marriages could be like

“Going to a completely new land, having all those pressures and expectations piled onto you. It can make you feel so isolated and alone, especially coming into such a large and formidable family, she’s bound to be terrified.”  Dante chucked the thoughts of getting a new sister who could understand his past situation would certainly be a delight, not to mention her marrying one of Katakuris most beloved siblings was an added bonus.

Dante’s words weren’t exactly as comforting as Cracker thought they’d be, he’d expected it to be at least half sugar-coated to spare his own sufferings. The more he focused on it the worse he imagined the marriage being, his mind ran rampant with thoughts of a spiteful and unhappy young woman who despised him and his family to no end.

Lowering his head he let out a groan “If mama doesn’t kill me I’m sure my wife or her father will. Oh god Shanks is probably gonna kill me at the altar.” Knowing very little of Yonko Shanks left much room for the rumours and stories to replace the facts.

Shanks was known for being a kind and loyal man but also for his brutality towards those who dared harm his friends, as much as Cracker knew his mother had Shanks backed into a corner there was no telling what would happen once the wedding was over.

“Just play the part you’ve been given and there’ll be no problems, you should count yourself lucky you get a few days to know her before the wedding too. The best thing to do right now is to keep calm and focus on getting better.” Dante sighed, giving his brother a reassuring smile. As long as Cracker didn’t upset mama and was obedient then there would be no problems, the only problems would be coming from his bride.

Nodding his head Cracker grumbled quietly, it was bad enough to be in such a weakened state but he’d be meeting his bride while he was still vulnerable, it was shameful that a Sweet Commander would be in such poor condition to greet his new wife; his image was tarnished enough without the added humiliation from a wife.

Getting off the bed Dante walked out onto the balcony, he had to admit everyone had done a very good job in rebuilding the Whole Cake Chateau after the Tamatebako box exploded. After all the extensive damage it caused Big Mom had decided a little redecorating could be good, reinforced doors, stronger walls, better ‘guest’ rooms and a more fortified defence. Thankfully the damage to Sweet City was minimised by Streusens quick thinking.

As lovely as the view was it was Dante couldn’t enjoy it for long, while Katakuri was away the duties of governing Komugi Island fell to him, which meant there was much work for him to do than usual. Rubbing his temple he absolutely dreaded that he’d have to go report to Big Mom about Komugi Island was doing in the wake of the Strawhats attack and how produce from the latest harvest was coming along.

Turning he went back inside, gathering up what papers and log books he’d spent most of the day working on Dante looked at Cracker with pleading eyes “I gotta go report to mama on how Komugi is doing, as well as how you are. Don’t make me go in there and have to lie about you. Mama knows when I lie and you know she doesn’t like me very much right now.” With a forced groan Dante began trudging slowly towards the door.

If mama knew Cracker was still so outwardly displeased about the wedding there would be more trouble than it was worth to lie to her about it.

Feeling guilty over his brother-in-law Cracker shot a glare at him, it wouldn’t be fair making Dante lie to mama about his feelings towards the wedding, especially when so far all he’d done was get hysterical and sulk.

“Dammit! Fine, you better bring me some good tea later or else.” He huffed “Tell mama I’m very nervous about the wedding but also I am immensely grateful to her for giving my one last chance to prove myself. I promise I won’t let mama down and I will do my best to be a good husband.” Not the whole truth but it would be good enough for Dante to pass it off as a truth.

 

With a gleeful smile Dante gave Cracker thumbs up “I’ll get you the best Hibiscus and cherry tea I brought along. I’ll be back in a while so stay put, I knew you being my favourite brother would work out well.” The young man mused as he swung the large door open, before Cracker could say anything else Dante was already gone, getting to the eight floor from the second in such a short time meant he had no time to dally around with conversations, no one could be late to meet with mama.

 

Getting out of bed Cracker struggled to maintain balance as he went to close the door, he didn’t want any uninvited guests to drop by while he was still recovering, it was bad enough that many of his semi- good natured siblings had seen him in such a pitiful state and he needed no more sympathetic or pitying looks from his family. If it hadn’t been for Dante making endless excuses of him needed to rest, eat or focus on his Ministerial duties he’d have no peace at all.

“It’s rude to close a door in someones face, little brother, especially the face of your elder sister who can so easily remove it.”

The door hadn’t even been closed when Cracker heard the voice from the other side, letting out an exasperated sigh he slowly pulled it back open.

“Hello, Amande.” Cracker tried his best to sound enthusiastic about his sisters visit but couldn’t muster the strength to pretend “Come in, have a seat, everyone else does the same.” Throwing the door back open Cracker gave up on his idea of getting any peace before Katakuri returned to Whole Cake Island.

Noting her brothers bad attitude Amande removed her wide brimmed hat before entering the room, no need to try obscure her face when it was just her and Cracker around, making sure the door was closed the snakeneck woman helped her brother back to his bed safely.

In truth quite a few of the Charlotte siblings had been feeling guilty over what happened, many of them had underestimated the severity of Strawhat and the destruction he could cause, yet only Cracker had been punished so terribly by their mother. It was unfair seeing as how it was a joint failure by a multitude of Big Moms children and it was just Cracker paying the biggest price.

“I’m not here to cause problems, Cracker. I’ve come from seeing mama and wanted to inform you of some things before Katakuri returns.” Taking a long drag from her cigarette Amande looked at her brother with sympathetic eyes.

Furrowing his brow Cracker avoided looking at her “Stop looking at me like that! I’m so sick of everyone looking at me with pity and sympathy!” Cracker snapped, clenching the blankets tightly in his fists. He was so tired of how they all looked at him when they visited, like he was some wounded dog set up to be euthanized, he wasn’t going to have his siblings feeling guilt or pity over what had happened.

Closing her eyes for a moment Amande nodded, even if she felt bad for arriving too late to aid him there were no amount of apologies that’d make a difference now “Of course, I’m sorry. It’s just strange seeing you without your hair lighting up like a sparkler, you’re whole tough guy aesthetic is thrown off, you look like a grumpy teenager.” Attempting to defuse the situation as best she could Amande fell back on the usual snarky comments the two would make.

A small smile broke onto Crackers face, for the first time since before Puddings wedding someone wasn’t treating him like he was made of glass “Heh, well you’d best put your hat back on, wouldn’t want someone knowing that blue isn’t your natural hair colour, the Mad Moiselle isn’t as intimidating with her natural brown hair, your image may never recover.” Cracker retorted, gesturing to the womans chestnut roots which were becoming clearer.

With a scowl Amande put her hat back on, pulling the brim over her face to hide the fact that she was sulking “At least your wits weren’t dampened by mama... Anyway, I’ve come by to inform you that mama has given me the honour of being a new Sweet Commander.” Her words and tone held less enthusiasm for someone who’d received one of the best honours within the Charlotte Family.

“I didn’t think we’d have four Sweet Commanders for quite some time, there was no one capable enough to replace Snack, and I doubt there ever will be considering his tenaciousness or his resolve. I hope to live up to the expectations of a Commander.” A sad smile formed on the face of the Mad Moiselle as she finished her cigarette.

Snack had been the first Sweet Commander before Katakuri, Smoothie or Cracker were given the positions, of course it was only two weeks after mama had decided Katakuri should also work alongside Snack as a Sweet Commander. He was beloved by all residents of Totto Land and had enough strength to rival Katakuri. His death at the hands of Urogue hadn’t taken much of a toll on Big Mom, to her one child was expendable but to his siblings Snack was irreplaceable and encouraging for them to succeed.

That incident wasn’t one Cracker enjoyed remembering, Snack had taken far too many hits in defence of his men and had willingly taken a fatal blow to protect his ship, securing the safe escape of his men along with an injured Myukuru.

Reaching over he patted his sisters’ hand, with her skill and tact it was easy to see why Big Mom chose Amande, she’d been one child who seldom disappointed their mother and had helped immensely with repairing the damage done by Strawhat.

Clearing her throat Amande shook her head; she was getting off topic and forgetting why she’d made a detour to visit Cracker.

Reaching into her pocket she pulled out a small stack of photographs “Galette took some pictures of your fiancée, apparently Shanks threw a big farewell party for his daughter, and Rosalina invited both Galette and Katakuri to join. I think this is the best picture of her.” Flicking through the photos Amande took one and handed it to Cracker.

Somewhat hesitantly Cracker took the photo, of course he wanted to know what she looked like but that made everything that was happening seem so real and definite. 

His eyes slowly widened as he stared at the photo. She was adorable, big bright eyes and a smile of utter delight on her face, a large cake in front of her complete with sparklers and cupcakes to decorate it. To Cracker it seemed as if the girl was genuinely happy about all of this, as if her farewell party was more if an awaited celebration than one final gathering of family before a forced marriage.

Then again, maybe she wasn’t entirely displeased with the situation; her enjoyment could also result from her taking pleasure due to some ulterior motive. Cracker didn’t know which to fret over, the fact that such a sweet looking young woman was being forced to marry him, or the fact that she could have some ulterior motives.

“She’s cuter than I thought, it seems mama had no idea what the girl looked like when this was arranged, she was quite pleased when these were sent over. All in all I think you could make this marriage work.” Amande had to admit that Cracker was lucky, with all the uncertainty of the girls’ existence this marriage would certainly overshadow what happened with the Vinsmoke wedding.

Nodding in agreement Cracker took the rest of the photos Amande had been holding; each one had Rosalina either in the foreground or somewhere in the background. There were picture of Rosalina with the Red-Hair pirates, pictures of Rosalina with her father, pictures of Galette and Rosalina and a few pictures of Galette posing with Rosalina somewhere in the background.

It was no secret Galette loved the spotlight; she’d always been quite the diva. A  grin spread across Crackers face as he moved through the photos, Shanks was legendary for his parties and it seemed the presence of his siblings hadn’t dampened the celebration one bit. There was even a picture of Shanks arm wrestling with his first mate as Rosalina cheered from the side-lines.

Coming to the last few photos the grin soon faded back to a frown. Why would Galette take these photos, why not stop at the happy ones of celebration?

The last few pictures were of goodbyes, tearful and clearly not something that should have ever been taken.

There was no joy or delight in the last photos, just sorrow and upset. Slowly Cracker looked through the remaining pictures.

Given the nature of the situation Cracker hadn’t expected it to have been a happy farewell, though he hadn’t expected his sister to document it either, it was just putting more salt in his wounds.

From the photos it was clear the Red- Hair pirates weren’t eager to see her go, Galette had snapped pictures of the top crew members bidding her farewell, the crew in the background were quite clearly distraught, some seemed to be yelling while others were sitting down on the deck crying.

Furrowing his brow Cracker took a good look at each photo, it was clear she was well regarded by the crew.

Lucky Roo with a massive grin had Rosalina lifted right off the ground and seemed to be squeezing her tightly.

Rockstar, having thrown her into the air was ready to catch her when she came down again, from the smile on Rosalinas face this wasn’t the first time he’d done that.

Yasopp, the famed marksman of the crew, giving the girl a tight hug and had quite clearly been caught by Galette as he tried to slip a gun into Roslainas coat.

Many crew members were unknown to Cracker but it was obvious they meant a lot to Rosalina.

Then there were photos that Galette should have known not to take. The farewell of father and daughter, Cracker didn’t want to see that, it was going to be bad enough knowing he was taking her from family; he didn’t need the added guilt of breaking her fathers’ heart.

Tossing the last pictures aside he pinched the bridge of his nose and rested his head back “Seriously, she doesn’t know when to stop. I don’t wanna see this shit.” Cracker hissed, why the hell was he even given them in the first place?

Gathering the discarded photos Amande quickly put them away “Katakuri wanted you to know what you to see what she looked like, mama wanted proof that Rosalina had been gotten. Mama wanted you to see them, she plans to taunt Shanks with them at the wedding, and I think she wants to push him to fight.” Amande knew her mother well enough to make educated guesses on her plans.

There was only so much Shanks could tolerate before he snapped and Big Mom planned on finding that limit, taking his daughter, taunting him at her wedding, keeping him from visiting for as long as she could. Charlotte Linlin planned on not only using Rosalina as a pawn, she also planned to push Shanks to his breaking point with his own child.

Amande had been charged with awaiting the arrival of the Red Hair pirates for the wedding and making sure they didn’t enter Totto Land with an armada at their backs, as much as she detested the idea of psychological torment over outright physical torture she had to abide by her mother’s rules.

“Neither of us wants a Yonko verses Yonko war, if mama keeps pushing Shanks as planned it will end that way.. I’ll be going with Dante tomorrow to meet Katakuri as he enters Totto Land, I advise you to come along not only to greet your bride but to speak with her before you both meet mama for tea.” Amande had been planning things meticulously since leaving her mother’s throne room less than an hour ago.

Amande also knew that Dante sailed out to meet Katakuri as returned after every mission; it paid to know the habits and routines of her siblings and in-laws, especially in times like this.

A strict rule had been set that Cracker and Rosalina were not allowed to see each other in person before they had tea with Big Mom, on that technicality the two could speak as long as they weren’t in the same room. At the very least it could ease tensions between the two.

“Mama said I’m not allowed see her before our tea tomorrow afternoon. You’re not trying to test me into disobeying mama, are you?” With a sceptic look Cracker glared at his sister, he knew where her loyalties were and that Big Mom didn’t fully trust that he could handle this.

Shaking her head Amande lit another cigarette “You cannot see her, there was no rule set about the two of you speaking while there is a wall of Mochi obstructing both views.. When we return to Whole Cake you must return to The Courtyard immediately with Galette, you shouldn’t face any repercussions as long as you don’t break mamas rule.” Amande had already figured that Katakuri wouldn’t mind helping to bend the rules, after all he had been known to break a few in the past.

The thought of finally meeting his wife-to-be was daunting; in less than twenty-four hours he’d be sitting at a table having tea and cakes with her. Getting to speak with her before she got to Whole Cake seemed more terrifying than the prospect of tea time.

Either way it meant he had until tomorrow morning to get himself looking presentable for both mama and his fiancée, mama had already sent down what he was supposed to wear for Tea Time and had made herself very clear that he was to conduct himself in a refined and gentle manner to greet his bride.

Shivering slightly Cracker took a deep breath, this was all happening too fast for him, by normal standards he knew he could handle this without a doubt but after his punishment and how his health, both physical and mental, had suffered as a result he doubted every move he made.

He had to make a good first impression, if he messed up and somehow offended or insulted Rosalina that would definitely reflect badly on him and set the marriage off on the wrong foot.

“I’m not sure I can do this. I haven’t had time to figure out what’s wrong with me, I’m still getting my strength back, and I don’t know how I’m supposed to make any of this work.” Cracker whispered in a hushed tone, leaning forward he put his head in his hands and took shaky breaths.

Not only was he still trying to put his mind back together after being separated from his body so long but his body hadn’t been cared very well after the fight with Strawhat, the aftermath of both left him clutching at straws to piece himself together before the impending wedding.

Reaching over Amande put her hand on Crackers shoulder, Katakuri had warned her that their brother was still unstable after what mama had done, quite clearly it weighed heavily on him, the added pressures of a marriage and the task of being both Sweet Commander and a Minister only served to weight him down more.

“Then trust in us to help you, Cracker. You have siblings willing to lighten this load. Galette has been telling her how much fun Totto land is, Katakuri has been preparing her to meet you and mama, Dante will help her get used to this life and I’ll make sure Shanks understands the consequences of causing you trouble.” Getting up from the bed Amande pulled the brim of her hat over her face, Cracker would need all the rest he could get before tomorrow.

With a muffled sob Cracker grabbed hold of his sisters’ hand before she could move for the door. In his eyes he was the big failure that had ruined the plans with Germa 66, in his eyes the catastrophe that followed was his doing, yet his siblings were still willing to go out of their way to assist him. Even with all that happened they made such an effort to ease his problems.

“I-I can’t thank you guys enough for doing this. You all defended me to mama; you all put yourselves at risk by helping me now. Even after I failed you’re still willing to have my back.” Chuckling quietly Cracker squeezed his sisters’ hand tight, Amande smiled softly and put her free hand on the back of Crackers head.

“If we don’t stick together with solidarity and strength, mama can pick us off one by one. We may be her children but if we fail are expendable, we’ll all fall like a house of cards if we isolate ourselves from one another.” With a sigh Amande patted her brothers’ head, it was clear he was starved for any sort of affection he could get.

  _‘Hopefully Rosalina is fond of being held’_ she through as she waited for Cracker to let go, after a moment Cracker regained his composure and let go of her hand, with a nervous chuckle he rubbed his eyes.

Walking to the door Amande pulled it open, halting before she left the room “It’s okay to be fearful of marriage but as long as you make an effort to know her, it’ll turn out okay, Cracker.”

Once more before he could respond his guest was gone, the door closing softly behind her.

 Again, Cracker was left on his own, having nothing better to do he picked up the few photos Amande had left him. Lying back down in the bed Cracker stared at the photos, Rosalina looked so happy in the pictures, her smile, her eyes, and her general demeanour made her look like a kind person.

“Oh Rosalina, I hope I can be a good husband for you. Surely you deserve better than me.” Cracker sighed.

 

~ ~ ~

**Aboard Red Force 1 day prior**

 

“This is practically cradle snatching!”

“She’s too young for marriage!”

“We need her here!”

“Don’t leave us, Rosie! We love you!”

“Come back in a few years when she’s an adult!

The crew aboard Red Force wept and cried, watching as trunks of Rosalinas belongings were moved onto Katakuris ship, in their drunken state they felt more than confident enough to shout and hurl insults at the two Charlotte Siblings.

How quick the atmosphere of the crew changed was startling, Shanks had purposely tried to drag the party out simply to spite Katakuri, eventually the Sweet Commander had enough games and told Rosalina they were departing in half an hour.

Within seconds the singing, cheerful chatter and music had stopped, the mess hall was dead silent for a few seconds, collectively the pirates began booing and shouting, demanding that the party wasn’t over yet and that it was unfair to cut it short.

Thankfully Rosalina had pacified them with a reminder there would be a big wedding party and that she’d see them all again soon, it didn’t take much to subdue the rage of the drunken pirates, the reminder of another party soon and the promise of fun was enough to settle them for the time being.

The following half hour consisted of the crew members weeping goodbye and each demanding a hug before she was to go, no doubt trying to stall for more time.

Knowing it was useless to drag it out Shanks informed Galette of where Rosalinas room was and which suitcases and chests were going with her immediately.

Once Rosalina had finally made it onto the deck Katakuri tried to get her over to his ship as quick as he could, they’d spent too long compromising already and would have to rely on good weather to arrive at Whole Cake on time.

Katakuri watched with sheer horror as the poor girl was swept up, squeezed, thrown into the air like a rag doll and almost piled on by teary eyed pirates.

When only Shanks was left to bid her farewell the rest of the crew took the hint and returned to their own weeping, this was going to be difficult enough for their captain without an audience.

Taking hold of his daughters hand Shanks gave a small chuckle “I keep hoping I’ll wake up and this is just a nightmare but that isn’t gonna happen.”

“You- You are going to get married, my little girl is gonna be married and I can’t do a damn thing to stop it.” A wide grin formed on his face as he spoke, it was surreal to think his daughter would be married at all, especially to a stranger. It didn’t sit right with him that such marriages were seen as acceptable to so many.

With tears threatening to make an appearance once again Rosalina wrapped her arms around her father and sighed “I’m all grown up now, dad, you can’t protect me forever and it’s not like I’m moving to North Blue.” Tying to look on the bright side once again it would be easy for her father to come visit, after all it’d just take one call to find out where she was and to plan a visit.

Putting his arm around her Shanks smiled, he knew he had to put on a brave face for her, if she saw him in a hysteric panic over this it’d only serve to stress her out more. She was already the one who’d suffer the most from this, there was no need to cause further upset.

“Sometimes I regret not having my arm.. I’d like to flip the bird to those two prats right now.” Shanks whispered, Rosalina buried her face in his coat to try stifle a laugh, it wasn’t often he complained about his missing arm, more often than not he’d use his missing arm as an excuse to do things.

“Please, just promise me you will take care of yourself. I trust that you know what you’re doing in all of this so I won’t do anything brash.” As much as it hurt to say Shanks trusted that Rosalina had a plan, or at least some idea of how to make this situation work for her, if she did then it’d be counter-intuitive to mount an attack on Big Mom.

Pleased to hear her father trusted her judgement Rosalina breathed a sigh of relief, knowing he wasn’t going to arrive at her wedding with fleets of ships with ideas of a fight took a weight off her mind, though she doubted friendly allies would take the news very well.

 

 

 

Taking the last photos had been somewhat difficult for Galette, she’d enjoyed documenting the fun of the party, the activities and how the crew would interact with Rosalina.  She was ordered to get pictures of the farewells too, mama wanted to know how it went and to have proof that it had gone smoothly.

 “Thank you, dad.. Also, don’t let anyone else go making a big fuss over this. I want to do this and have peace, no more fights.” Stretching up she whispered in his ear, only he could keep his allies from seeking out their own vigilantly justice over this. All she wanted was to put this whole debacle to bed and fix what she could within her on life after.

Those words were the final straw for poor Shanks, bursting out into tears he began to laugh and tussle Rosalinas hair, through all the uncertainty and unjust nature of this she was still advocating as the voice of reason and peace, even if it meant her sacrificing her freedom to do so.

He knew he had to let go of her soon, if not he either wouldn’t let go at all or Katakuri would have to pry her from him, Beckman acting as her chaperone made it easier, his most trusted friend could guard her at least until her wedding day.

As bittersweet as it was to remember he couldn’t help reminisce on how it’d been Beckman to keep his wife safe until their wedding day just in case she was made a target by the Marines, now it’d be Beckman to watch over his own child until her wedding day.

“And I couldn’t be more proud of you, sweetheart. You’re all grown up and going off into the world, I’m hardly able to believe it.” Half sobbing he loosened his grip, it was enough for her to be able to take his hand and away and step back.

 _“Keep it together, Shanks, just until she’s gone, hold it together a little longer”_ Shanks thought to himself, all the fear, dread, shame and feelings of crushing loss threated to burst out, only being held back by knowing it’d devastate his little girl to see him like that.

Keeping hold of his hand Rosalina took a step back, taking in a deep breath she chuckled “You raised me well, dad. I’ll be sure to remember all you taught me.” With another step back her hand began to slip from his, ever so slowly he released his grasp.

Turning her back Rosalina walked to Galette “I think I’ve got everything I need. Best not drag it out any longer.” Her voice was shaky, almost threatening to break, if she didn’t hurry things along her common sense may catch up to her and persuade her to fight this decision.

Trembling as she climbed up onto the rails she looked down at the gap between the two ships. Once she stepped off Red Force she didn’t know when she’d set foot on it again, or if she ever would.

With all the memories on board it was hard to think she was choosing to walk away, her entire life was aboard the Red Force, almost everything from the previous ship had been brought along to the upgrade.

The bed she’d had since she was six, the table she’d had breakfast at for as long as she could remember, the fact that she may never wake up to the sound of her family hollering, shouting or singing again.

“Go on, he won’t let you fall.” A soft voice spoke, a hand pressed against her lower back.

Coming back from her thoughts she looked to see it was her father nudging her forward and Beckman already aboard the opposing ship, ready to catch her as she made her jump across the gap.

With her father encouraging her on and a trusted friend waiting to catch her it was all the reassurance she needed to keep going and make the best of her situation.

Bringing her eyes to the crew of Red Force she gave them a warm smile “I wanna see big smiles on my wedding day, none of this hysteric weeping. Don’t drink too much, don’t blow the ship up and most importantly don’t fucking die while I’m gone.” With a bright smile on her face Rosalina took the final step and jumped from the rails.

The gap wasn’t excessively large, the two ships being nearly equally as large made the gap less of a challenge.

With ease Beckman caught her before her feet could touch the rails of the ship, setting her down on the deck he gave her a pat on the head “Ain’t let you fall yet, not starting now.” The man chuckled.

Once Katakuri gave the order the gigantic sails to be unfurled the reality sank in.

There was no going back at this point and no amount of demands, threats or screaming would get her back aboard Red Force anytime soon.

Her breath became rapid as the ship began moving, frantically she looked up at Beckman and then to Red Force. In all her attempts to resolve the issues without bloodshed or conflict she had barely considered how much a toll it would take on her.

 “It’s okay, kiddo. The hardest part is already over, it’ll be easier from here on out. Don’t look back and there’ll be fewer regrets” Beckman assured her, turning her towards the bow of the ship he stood behind and placed both hands on her shoulders “I’m gonna get you through this with as few regrets as possible.” He promised as he reached down to kiss the top of her head.

While Beckman took care of Rosalina the Charlotte siblings set to their tasks. Galette went towards the stern of the ship, her mother having already demanded to see proof of how Shanks reacted to this, and Katakuri to put one or two Homies in Rosalinas room as extra guards.

 

As Galette reached the back of the ship she pulled out her Cameko, for  a split seconds she considered lying to Mama, saying that they’d moved off too quickly to have gotten a photograph of Shanks as his daughter left but she knew the Big Sail Homie would sell her out in an instant.

Red force was still close enough to have a good view of the crew and captain, but who’d want to see that sight?

A crew of world famous pirates in floods of tears, shouting and swearing like small children.

And Shanks, poor Shanks. As soon as his daughter was moved towards the bow he let his composure fail, even if she could no longer see him she could hear the weeping pirates clearly.

With his hand clasped over his mouth Shanks fell to his knees, trying to muffle his sobs as best he could as tears ran down his face.

 _“If only I’d have been less cocky, more aware of what was happening. I shouldn’t have let them pass through so easily, I should have taken it more seriously.”_ Shanks thought to himself, doubting every move he’d made in the last few weeks.

Allowing the Strawhats, Bege and Germa 66 to enter his territory with such ease, allowing them to stay so long, allowing them to set foot on his ship without a second thought for the consequences, all the decisions he’d made had led to this. It was his negligence at handling the situation that backed him into such a corner that his own daughter had to be traded off in order to retain peace.

“I’m sorry you have such a wretched and useless father. I’m sorry I failed to protect you again.” He sobbed quietly, watching as the ship sailed off into the night it was as if a little piece of him had broken off and was slowly burning away.

Galette certainly took no pleasure in capturing that image, she knew her mother would certainly show them off to Cracker and try make it all his fault again.

Gritting her teeth Galette walked back to find Rosalina, it’d been a long enough day and the sooner it was over the better for all of them.

Beckman had sat down on the deck next to where Rosalina had finally given up and fallen, the girl had so much pressure put on her for all this to work out. If she failed or messed up Big Mom would certainly take her anger out on the Islands her father protected, if she refused and was harmed as a result her father would no doubt start a war in retaliation.

She knew what this was doing to the crew, to her father and what it would do to close allies. The damage control she tried to do had caused more damage than she’d anticipated and practically set off a nuke within her family.

Staring blankly ahead as tears rolled down her cheeks Rosalina remained silent, Beckman, having propped her up into a sitting position sat behind as support, stroking her hair and reminding her that she was going to at least get to eat delicious cakes soon.

Approaching quietly Galette knelt down beside Rosalina, feeling bad for playing pretend earlier in the night the woman could at least use that to help further the relationship they had.

“You’ve had quite a long day, Rosalina. Let’s get you settled into your room and I’ll make you some nice camomile tea, you can rest for as long as you like after.” Galette tried to sound as comforting as she could, with a sympathetic smile she took Rosalinas hand and stood up.

Closing her eyes for a few seconds Rosalina nodded, she couldn’t relax yet, not until she had a pillow under her head and a blanket to hide beneath. Pulling herself up off the deck she sighed “Alrighty, l could use a good sleep, lead the way.”

With that Galette began leading her down into the ship, Beckman was quick to follow but was stopped by Katakuri “I’ll show you to your room.” He grumbled, more of an order than any kind of kind-hearted gesture to be sure.

Going through the large, winding corridors it was like walking through a maze. The rumours about Big Mom having the power to make inanimate things sentient could be verified , pictures on the wall had smiling faces, doors had eyes that followed as they passed and she could have sworn the vase they walked past just said a small ‘hello’ to her.

“Don’t worry, dear. Their called Homies, mama puts small pieces of a soul into an object and it can become sentient. It’s rather cheerful and they make good company.” Galette spoke, pointing to a light above that smiled down on them as they passed under.

Glancing upward Rosalina waved slightly to the anthropomorphized light source, at least with Homies around there was no worry of being lonely or feeling isolated “Neat.” She muttered, making sure to give a slight wave to whatever other sentient object she walked past.

Stopping at a door Rosalina noted that unlike most of the others it had no face, nor did the door handle.

Opening the door Galette ushered her inside, the room was spacious and decorated elegantly.

A large four poster bed with a sheer canopy adorning it, a shelf lined with books stood a few feet from it, a small circular table with two chairs was by the wall.  A dressing table stood at either side of the bed with a lamp on each, on one there was a small den-den Mushi with a chef hat on its little head. The chests and suitcases she had packed for the wedding were stacked neatly in the corner.

It seemed a rather lavish room to be staying in for two nights but the welcome was appreciated.

“I hope you find it suitable. You have your own bathroom, the den-den is a direct line to the kitchen so if you need anything just call. I’m just two doors down so if you need me please come by.” Galette hummed, gesturing to the little den-den and to the door by her suitcases.

Rubbing her teary eyes Rosalina sat on the edge of the bed, with shaky breaths she choked out a small cry “Hah, thanks. I’m- uh- I’m sorry for this, a tad overemotional and stressed over this- this whole everything.” Putting her head between her knees Rosalina took deep breaths.

Gently patting her back Galette frowned “It’s- It’s going to be okay. Katakuri told me he would speak to you about this tomorrow but- but considering you need to ease stress I think he can make an exception.” She was not very good at giving emotional support to others, usually that was why Myukuru bounced from one island to another, she was the supportive and peppy one, not Galette.

Sitting on the bed Galette wrapped her arm around Rosalina “You.. You’re going to marry a very good man. A tad rough around the edges but he has a good heart, so, you needn’t worry about marrying some aggressive brute. I promise you that he is a good man.” Galette whispered, Katakuri had wanted to inform her of all wedding related things tomorrow but it was practically torture to leave Rosalina in such a state.

Finding the words of some comfort Rosalina breathed a sigh of relief, she still didn’t know who exactly she would marry but as long as she married someone who had some kindness she would be content with her life, as long as she could see her father from time to time and was allowed to read what she wanted then everything else would be a bonus.

“Thank you, Galette. I appreciate knowing that, it’s a weight off my mind. I can be happy as long as I marry someone who isn’t heartless and cruel, that’s all I want from this whole ordeal.” She muttered in response.

 

After a moment of silence Galette released Rosalina and cleared her throat as she stood “I’ll go get that tea~ when I return I can tell you about Totto Land and how everything works, I’m sure you’ll love it.” At that Galette quickly left, making sure to close the door behind her.

Left alone Rosalina flopped back onto the plush, luxurious bed. She was grateful Big Mom hadn’t decided to marry her off to a heartless or nasty child of hers, she didn’t expect a flawless marriage but she certainly didn’t want a volatile one.

“I’ll marry a good man. What kind of good man? What standard of good?” She mused to herself as she stretched out on the bed.

 

“A good man~ A good heart ~A good wedding approaches~” Shooting up from the bed Rosalina was relieved to find that it was only one of the lamps happily singing.

Shaking her head she realised it was just a little lamp Homie that’d been placed in her room, for spying on her or not she was grateful to have a little company.

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                                                                                               

 


	4. Pre- Tea Time nerves

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took a while to upload.  
> Christmas and New Year happened and my time was spent with my hubby.  
> Also had trouble getting from point A to point B on this chapter.  
> Hope you enjoy (plz dont abuse phones after reading)  
> leave feedback and have a good day!  
> i dont own one piece.

“I think I’d like to keep the lamp, he seems friendly and cheerful.” Rosalina hummed as she sipped her tea, Beckman raised a quizzical eyebrow and shook his head.  
He couldn’t stand the chattering furniture, it was unsettling and had an eerie vibe to him, it was only after he’d kicked every last one out of his room that he could finally relax. His firm belief was that if your furniture can talk then it’s most likely capable of murdering you.

  
“Oh come on, I’m gonna be living with Homies soon so I should at least make friends with them. Least you can do is to tolerate them.” She huffed putting her cup back down on its saucer.

  
Thankfully her night hadn’t been as bad as she’d assumed. Galette brought tea and they discussed Totto Land, how each island had a food theme and how each had its respective Minister to govern it and how the rankings of soldiers and servants worked. The information was daunting and a bit hard to take in but in the New World almost anything was possible, even islands where everything was a candy.

  
The Homies in her room had been equally as welcoming, after the Minister of Butter had left for the night both the lamp and the chair were quite talkative, asking questions, singing joyfully about how lovely a bride she will be and how there would be lots of delicious cake to eat. In truth a lamp and a chair had made the night easier for her.  
“Furniture shouldn’t have opinions. It’s unsettling; I don’t need a damn cup telling me to stop drinking.” Beckman grumbled, the final straw for him came after a small cup in his room had told him it was unwise to keep drinking alcohol so late.

  
Five minutes later every Homie that’d been in the room was unceremoniously tossed out into the hallway, much to Katakuris displeasure since he the Homies were an added precaution against a revolt.

  
Rosalina shook her head in response and crossed her arms, if it was up to a cup to be a voice of reason that should have been enough of a wakeup call for him to stop drinking. Though it was clear they’d never be on the same page concerning the Homies it was comforting to know Beckman was there to support her for the next few days.  
Continuing with their tea and chatting it wasn’t long before their peace was disturbed, it was still early in the evening and neither had seen much of the Charlotte Siblings since Galette said good morning to them. Both Rosalina and Beckman had been sitting at a small table on the deck, having tea and discussing mundane things for a large portion of the day.

 

  
Both Galette and Katakuri had contacted Big Mom and confirmed Rosalina was on board, sending the photographs and listening to what plans their mother had both were happy that it was Amande taking the position as Sweet Commander, both were relieved to hear that it’d be Amande sailing out to greet Shanks and to make sure he didn’t cause any problems for the wedding.

 

  
It didn’t take much for Katakuri to assure his mother everything was under control, Rosalina had been nothing but compliant and cooperative thus far and it didn’t seem like she had any plans to cause trouble.

  
As long as she was compliant and behaving Big Mom would remain happy, if Shanks wasn’t willing to go to war over his daughter that left some room for manipulation against him.

  
“And we were having such a pleasant time. What do you want?” Beckman sighed glaring up at Katakuri, it was clear Beckman had animosity towards him simply because it was Katakuri who came to take Rosalina in the first place.

  
Earning himself a scornful look from Rosalina she huffed, rolling her eyes at the sheer pettiness, before she was given the chance to nag at him for his unpleasant attitude Katakuri rolled his eyes and shook his head.

  
“Rosalina, I need you to come with me. There are things I need to discuss with you, preferably without your chaperone or his bad attitude around.” Grabbing the chair Katakuri pulled it away from the table, more or less making a statement that Rosalina had no choice but to go with him.   
Jumping up from the chair she raised her hand before Beckman could start protesting “Not a word, if I need you then I’ll start screaming bloody murder, finish your tea and relax.” He words were of little comfort to Beckman, he’d been tasked with taking care of her but so far it was being made extremely difficult.  
Crossing his arms Beckman grunted and turned his head, he didn’t want to believe it but Rosalina was more than capable of handling herself, heck Beckman had been the one who oversaw her training as a small girl.

  
Without another word Katakuri walked off and Rosalina followed as best she could, having to either move at a brisk walk or a light jog to keep up with the tall man she struggled to keep pace.

  
Down corridors and upstairs Rosalina became more and more confused by the labyrinthine layout of the ship.

  
“I needed to speak with you alone in regards to the wedding and preparations; I thought it best to have no interruptions or unnecessary comments.” Stopping in front of a door Katakuri shoved it open, peering inside Rosalina found it was a small office.

  
Bookshelves, file cabinets, a large desk with a gigantic armchair set behind it and two simple chairs on the opposite side. It seemed rather plain but then again it was probably seldom used.

  
Walking inside she climbed up onto one of the large chairs, after what Galette had told her last night she had a fair idea as to why she was needed alone. Maybe she’d finally learn who she was to marry and how everything was to be conducted.  
Shutting the door Katakuri took a deep breath. With Rosalina successfully on board and en-route to Whole Cake Island it was time to tell her all she needed to know, whether or not this went smoothly depended on her opinion regarding Cracker.

  
Going to the oversized armchair Katakuri sat down and pulled a few pieces of paper from a drawer in his desk, there was no point beating around the bush any more than they had to.  
“You’re not a stupid little girl so I’m not going to treat you as one. In return you can give me the same respect and treat me the same by not playing ignorant with me.” He spoke bluntly as he eyed her meticulously; her demeanour and mannerisms were that of a naive and innocent girl, Katakuri had become well aware that was simply a mask she wore.

  
Most likely a result of being a pirates daughter her only options were become cutthroat and heatless or hide herself behind a mask of pure innocence and ignorant passiveness, it was something Katakuri had seem numerous times over among his siblings and that he’d noticed upon joining the party aboard Red Force.  
Seeing as the Sweet Commander had her all figured out she decided to finally stop playing defence via the act of pure ignorance. It was a relief to know someone had figured it out before she ended up in a marriage where everyone thought she was some ignorant sweetheartt

  
“Thank god someone noticed. Pretending to be a peaceful optimist is a damn challenge.” She breathed “And hay, don’t get yourself down, I think you’re a very clever girl.” With a smirk Rosalina sat back in the chair and began to swing her legs as they dangled off the edge.

  
Putting his head in his hand Katakuri accepted that he’d set himself up for that remark _'Her and Cracker are going to get along great.'_  
“Fair enough, let’s get down to business.” Clearing his throat Katakuri stood up and leaned over his desk, holding out a piece of paper which Rosalina quickly took.  
Scrunching her nose she looked at the bounty poster, clearly this wasn’t his but it did have the Charlotte name on it, Charlotte Cracker, worth 860,000,000 belli, an impressive bounty to be sure.

  
“You’re set to marry my little brother and fellow Sweet Commander, he is Charlotte Cracker. Now, that picture isn’t his, it’s just what the marines mistook for him, the bounty is his though.” Katakuri explained, in truth Rosalina was surprised.

  
If anything she expected to marry someone who was low ranking and basically useless within the Charlotte family but she was going to be marrying a Sweet Commander.  
The name did ring a bell to her, when Strawhat Luffy had come aboard Red Force to talk to Shanks he briefly mentioned ‘a biscuit man named Cracker’ who he beat up in a forest of talking trees. Of course she thought it was some wildly embellished story half made of fairy tales, the New World was a strange place but how Luffy described it made it sound more like a children’s story.

  
It finally clicked in her head that she was set to marry the ‘disgraced’ Sweet Commander that Luffy had beaten, setting off the chain of drastic events that engulfed Whole Cake Island, then again it wasn’t as if the Strawhats were known for tactful or quiet rescue missions.  
Another piece of paper was held out to her, quickly taking it she looked to Katakuri with curiosity “This is what Cracker really looks like, as fair trade since I’ve sent the photos Galette took on to Whole Cake, that way you and Cracker both know who they marry.”

Looking down at the paper Rosalina was surprised by what she saw. When she thought ‘Sweet Commander’ she thought someone gigantic and foreboding, someone with an eternal resting bitch face and a no-fun attitude just like Katakuri.

  
When she thought of ‘Sweet Commander’ she certainly didn’t think they could look so cute and cocky.  
The hairdo was a tad much, as were the sparklers at the end of each pointed strand on either side of his head. The grin on his face was wide and full of delight, soft eyes that were a gentle shade of pink and the scar covering his right eye. No doubt he was capable of looking equally as sadistic as he could cute; he didn’t get such a high bounty or title of Sweet Commander for being law abiding.

  
All in all Cracker did look like the sort of guy she could try date under normal circumstances, circumstances granted that her father left her love life alone and it was not a forced marriage.  
Waiting for a response Katakuri sat back down, he knew it wasn’t so easy processing these kinds of things, after all she was looking at the man she’d be spending her life with, that wasn’t easily set aside.

  
After a moment a smile broke onto her face “He looks rather sweet but his bounty suggests he’s no stranger to getting his hands blooded. I look forward to meeting him.” Placing the photograph over the bounty picture she tilted her head, it was no surprise the Marines couldn’t get a good photo; their incompetence had been made apparent in the past.

  
“I’m glad you think so, though, Mama hasn’t been able to locate your bounty poster as of yet. Do you have one we can use?” Katakuri asked, it was his surprise that any attempt at finding the bounty poster for the child of a famed pirate had turned up no results; all mention of her seemed to be scarce or kept hidden. The World Government either feared making her identity public or was entirely ignorant to her existence; after all, the illusive child of Red-Hair Shanks was little more than a joke or a silly rumour in pubs.  
To her embarrassment she had yet to receive a bounty from the World Government, Shanks had been a dutiful father in regards to keeping her safe from the Marines, the lack of immediate resemblance coupled with the fact of her not often being seen in public with him meant it was seen as a purely coincidental meeting.

  
Laughing sheepishly she rubbed the back of her head “Well, you see, I don’t have a bounty. My father never wanted that to be a risk so he took all necessary precautions to make sure the Marines didn’t know, though these days there are a bunch of people in the New World who know me so it’s a bit overdue.” With a nervous giggle Rosalina had to stop herself before she said too much.

  
Raising an eyebrow it didn’t surprise Katakuri in the least, his mother had been the last Yonko to find out the truth about her existence and the added feature of two current Shichibukai having history with Shanks could explain the lack of Marine interference.

  
The last time the World Government dared target the child of Yonko it resulted in a mass prison break and the war that shook the entire world.  
It was clear even without his Haki that it was by the will of her father that she’d remained entirely off the Marines radar, which as a luxury wouldn’t be lasting much longer though. Not with Big Moms plan to ‘accidentally’ let slip about the coming wedding to The New World Gazette and Grand Line Gossip newspapers.

  
The news being made public knowledge would certainly recover any respect that was lost thanks to the Germa 66 incidents; the gossip and fuss over a wedding between two Yonkos children would cause chaos for sure, chaos that Big Mom wanted to use to her advantage, her plans being much furthered by the all too willing nature of the bride-to-be.

  
“Then don’t get too upset if you receive a bounty soon, it’s only a matter of time before you get noticed, being who you are will warrant you a high one simply on the basis you exist.” Trying to sound comforting Katakuri fell short of the mark, coming off as rather sarcastic with his remark.

  
Lowering her eyes Rosalina pouted, it was only a matter of time before she was targeted and made to look like a villainous child of a feared pirate, at the very least she hoped they had a decent picture of her to put on the poster “I know, now I’m getting married that’ll happen much sooner than later. If someone on your end doesn’t slip up it’ll be someone from my end who does it.” From either side there was no doubt this would be made a sceptical of and panic would soon follow behind.

With an agreeing nod Katakuri shrugged, it wasn’t his concern if she got a bounty; she’d soon be part of the Charlotte family and would have the protection of two Yonkos as a back up to her safety.  
Getting a bounty for even affiliating with the Charlotte family was nothing new either, after his own marriage became public knowledge Dante had a bounty of over 100 million belli put on his head simply because of who he was forced to marry. Katakuri didn’t even want to try using Haki to know how large hers would be.

  
Leaning back in the chair she let out a sigh, her father would lose his mind if she got a bounty without good reason. There wasn’t much she could do about it, like a lot else that was happening she was pretty much powerless and forced to go along with it all.  
“With that out of the way I can inform you of what will be happening once we arrive and where you’ll go after the wedding.”

At that Katakuri went into a long winded explanation of Totto Land.  
Its different island, how each island played a key role in the running of Totto Land by the produce it exported and who governed the islands. Along with that he took quite a while explaining the duties of a Minister and how she’d share the duties once married, as well as what would be expected of her as wife of a Sweet commander.

~

* * *

  
After over an hour of having information pelted at her Rosalina was mentally exhausted, there was so much for her to remember and so much for her to remain conscious of. Learning of how severely Cracker had been punished as opposed to everyone else only made the situation make more and more sense to her.  
Cracker had been punished for losing to Luffy, Luffy had ruined Big Moms plan to exterminate Germa 66, Shanks had welcomed Luffy with open arms after they’d raised hell in Totto Land.  
It has been one gigantic set up from the beginning to get petty revenge not only on Shanks but to try punishing Cracker even more, it was unfair to everyone except Big Mom.   
With the most important thing out of the way Katakuri began a very long-winded explanation of who would attend the wedding, who held what rank, her future duties as a Ministers wife and how to properly conduct herself at the Tea Time tomorrow.

Once she’d finally been released from the largely one-sided conversation Katakuri led her back to her room, making up an excuse that she needed to rest for tomorrow, Rosalina wasn’t going to complain about his excuses, the room had plenty to keep her entertained anyway.

Sitting on the bed she grabbed one of the books from the bookshelf, it was nothing extremely interesting to her, a simple book on the magnetic fields of the Grand Line.  
Idly chatting to the lamp and chair Homie about the book it was quite easy for her to unwind and relax, the peace was strange for her, aboard Red Force there was always something for Rosalina to be doing or someone who’d want to talk with her.

  
Reading aloud for her new Homie friends it was close to another hour before a soft knock came on the door, before she could ask who it was the door was open and in came Beckman dragging a trolley behind him.

  
“Brought you some dinner, thought you might be hungry. You were gone so long I started to worry.” Beckman mumbled as he kicked the door closed, ignoring the two Homies entirely he dragged the table and non-Homie chair over to the bed.  
After Rosalina had been gone for more than half an hour it was cause for concern, sending Beckman on an agitated search of the ship, refusing to ask for directions it was a fruitless search that Galette had to put to an end. By the time she’d found the poor pirate Rosalina was already back in her room resting.

  
After a mild argument Galette led him to the kitchen and agreed that he could make whatever he wanted, provided he didn’t blow up the kitchen or kill any of the chefs  
Sitting up on the bed she marked her page and set the book aside, feeling quite delighted Beckman had thought to bring her some food, the chefs on board were rather decent but their specialty was baked goods and tea.

  
Scooting to the edge of the bed where the table had been placed she waited with a smile as Beckman set the two plates of food down “Decided we should have a bit of a home comfort for the journey. Minced Sea King meat with fried onions and some gravy with a few peas thrown in there too, just the way you like it.”

Looking at the plates piled with food Rosalinas eyes practically lit up, it smelled so delicious, like it always had in the past, with all there was to worry about it was surprising Beckman remembered they needed to eat.  
Clapping her hands with glee she squealed with delight “Oh you remembered! It looks absolutely delicious.” Grabbing her fork Rosalina quickly dug into the meal, letting out a groan of joy once she tasted it “Mmh so good!”

Beckman rubbed the back of his head sheepishly as he sat down “Heh, it’s nothing compared to how _she_ used to make it but I’m not an entirely lost cause in the kitchen.” With a chuckle he sat down and began to eat.

  
For a large part of the meal both remained quiet, savouring not only the delicious meal but the fact that it would be the last time they would be dining together like this.  
Finally breaking the silence Beckmans curiously got the better of him “So, what did the friendly giant want you for? You were gone so long I got worried.” He asked, looking past her he glanced to the papers lying at the edge of the bed.

  
Reaching over she grabbed the papers, along with Crackers picture and bounty poster she’d also been given a map of Biscuit Island, a list of Ministers and who governed over each island along with a list of things not to mention in the presence of Big Mom.

  
“Oh yea! I know who I’m gonna be marrying, honestly I think he’s pretty cute, even if his bounty picture is wrong he looks fun.” With a smug smirk she passed over the photo and set the bounty poster on the table.

  
As soon as Beckman saw the bounty and picture he began to choke on his food, hacking and beating his chest to dislodge the food “Jesus fucking Christ! He’s worth more than half our fucking crew, how the hell old is this fucker? He looks as old as your father!” Beckman shouted as soon as he could speak again.  
He’d been keeping hopes up for Rosalina marrying one of Big Moms lesser known children and at least one with a modest bounty. She was to marry one of the ’Monsters’ of the Big Mom pirates, a Sweet Commander known in the New World for his tact and trickery in battle.

  
The reaction wasn’t far from what she had expected, sighing and shaking her head Rosalina hadn’t thought to ask how old Cracker was, there had been more pressing matters to discuss at the time but how old could he be? He couldn’t be that old.

 

  
“I didn’t ask but there’s no point getting your knickers in a twist, Beckman. This is who I’m marrying so you gotta deal with it. He isn’t exactly over the moon for this either.” Relieved that Beckman hadn’t choked to death Rosalina returned to enjoying her meal, if Beckman wanted to rage and complain she wouldn’t stop him.   
With information from Katakuri she’d learned that Crackers punishment ended the day Big Mom made the proposal, she was told how Cracker was just as fearful of the marriage as she was and that it’d be best for both of them to find common interests and have a base of mutual respect to start with.  
It had been a relief to know she wasn’t the only one upset over the wedding.

  
“Katakuri gave me a lot of information and advice to make this all easier for me, some of that advice being that Cracker is just as freaked as I am, so try not to be too mean when we arrive, neither of us have much choice.” Stopping for a moment she poured Beckman another cup of tea, hoping at least that he’d be indifferent towards Cracker instead of rude.

  
Opening his mouth to speak Beckman had no good argument against her. In his eyes this entire situation was another cruel game Big Mom was playing, trying to get another Yonko allied with her by way of blackmail and threats with Rosalina being just a pawn in everything.  
Yet, to his surprise she’d been diplomatic at every turn, seeking to smooth everything over with as little damage as possible. He even felt a little sorry for the Charlotte Family; with how Rosalina was acting she had so far been perceived as a passive and timid girl who was sheltered by her father all her life.

 

He did wish he could be there when they discovered she wasn’t entirely timid or meek, in truth Rosalina was as hard a fighter as any member of the Red- Hair pirates, tenacious and headstrong in how she could command in her fathers stead, her gentle heart was what made people underestimate her skill and her intelligence. It wasn’t just by her fathers’ hand she’d remained under the World Governments radar.

  
Grabbing the cup he chugged down the hot drink “Your father is gonna freak when he sees this. You’re definitely gonna get a bounty once this is found out, fucking hell this will be Kagayaku island all over again.” He whispered putting his head in his hands. Nervously muttering to himself about how bad this situation could become and what the Marines would do once they found out she wasn’t just someone Shanks crossed paths with on a rare occasion.

  
While Beckman had his small freak-out Rosalina was content to keep eating, she’d already her marriage related freak-outs before they came to get her “How are you so calm about this, Rosie?” Beckman asked with a worried expression. Her calmness was nearing the point of real concern for him.

  
Sipping her own cup of tea Rosalina raised an eyebrow “I haven’t got much choice so all I can do is remain calm. I’m getting married to Charlotte Cracker, from what I hear he’s a decent guy so I have some hope of being happy in this. Freak out if it helps you cope, it certainly helped me.” Her tone was calm and collective, it really had helped to freak out and panic, thinking over the worst case scenarios early on had left room for calm and rational questions when she was with Katakuri.  
Nodding his head Beckman took a deep breath, between his Captains self-loathing and Rosalinas scarily cheerful nature he hadn’t taken the time to properly freak-out about the situation like the rest of the crew had.

  
It didn’t take long for him to calm down, as hard as it was to accept Rosalina was a grown woman and had made the conscious decision to go through with this, logic told him she had some sort of plan in mind, or at least a general idea of what she was doing.

 

Continuing the rest of the meal in silence it wasn’t until Beckman pulled out the dessert that the conversations become active again, now continuing on a lighter note the two laughed and joked for quite some time.

  
Reminiscing on how many times Shanks had chased off young men wanting to date her, how many times the crew as a whole frightened away cocky pirate with intentions of romancing her and how many times Shanks had denied every other proposal made in regards to her.   
Then again no one else had thought to back him into such a corner like Charlotte Linlin had, no one else had dared try blackmail in order to get his approval on a marriage proposal but Big Mom had the ego and the armada to back her up.

  
Getting lost in their conversation it wasn’t until another knock came to the door they were brought back to reality “Come in.” Rosalina called as she turned to the door.  
Opening the door Galette walked in, her pleasant smile faded and was replaced with a discouraged look upon seeing Beckman in the room “I have some new for you, Rosalina, I think you’ll like it.” Approaching the bed she sat down and sighed, giving an irritated look to Beckman she gestured to the door.  
“It’s okay, Galette. If it’s good news then he’ll find out anyway, he’s gotta know what’s going on so he can do his job.” Patting the back of Galettes hand it didn’t take much to reassure her.

  
Taking a deep breath she smiled “My sister contacted us. Amande has been given the title of Sweet Commander; she’ll be going to meet your father and escorting the Red-Hair pirates to Whole Cake. But, that’s not all.” With a playful smile Galette wagged her finger.  
Now Beckman and Rosalina were curious, there hadn’t been a forth Sweet Commander in a long time, most thought Big Mom would never have a Forth Sweet Commander again after what happened to Snack.

  
Taking a moment to breathe Galette spoke again “Mama has a strict rule that you and Cracker aren’t to see each other before Tea Time at the Whole Cake Chateau but there is no rule against the two of you speaking before we arrive there... Granted it’ll be less than ten minutes and there’ll be a wall between you, it’s enough time to settle your anxiety and clear the air.”

  
Of course Galette thought the plan was genius, a genius technicality that ever so slightly bent the rules but still fully abided by them, since Amande would be passing their ship and collecting a report from Katakuri ad drop Dante off, it would be easy for Cracker to tag along under the assumption he too was receiving a report from a fellow Sweet Commander.

  
Rosalina hadn’t expected any of the Charlotte children to go so out of their way to make things easier for her, after all at this point she was an intruder to the family and there would be no need to play nice and help her out.  
“I- I didn’t think it’d be. Wait, are you sure this’ll work?” She questioned, if this went ahead and Big Mom somehow found out then there would surely be trouble, no one disobeyed her or tricked her without there being backlash.

  
“Of course, of course. Katakuri agrees that it’s a wise decision and Amande has a solid reason to make a quick visit, as well as Smoothie giving a valid excuse as to why Cracker came along.. “Galette spoke in a cheerful tone before her eyes fell to Beckman “All we need is your alibi. Provided your chaperone will attest that you were in your room until we reached Whole Cake.”

  
Stiffening in his seat Beckman felt it was more of an order to provide the alibi than a request, either way he couldn’t refuse if Rosalina was willing to go along, he was there to make sure she didn’t get into trouble not to sit back and cause it to happen.

  
“Tsk, haven’t got much choice but fine. If anyone asks she was with me and we were here, packing and preparing to leave but if anything happens to her I ain’t lying about it to my captain.” Beckman huffed, as long as Rosalina remained safe and unharmed his job was practically done but he still had to act within her best interests.

  
“Speaking of which, I should go call him and let him know you’re still alive and safe. Hopefully Red Force hasn’t fallen into complete chaos without us to babysit.” Rising from his chair Beckman set the empty plates and cutlery onto the trolley, making sure to put the chair and table back to their proper place before he opened the door to go.  
“Goodnight, Beckman. I’ll see you for breakfast in the morning and please make sure dad isn’t worrying too much.” She knew there was no helping her fathers worrying, as much as she wanted him reassured that all was well and she was coping it was still his job as a father to worry over her.

 

Waving goodbye Beckman left without a word as he dragged the trolley behind him.

  
Once he was gone Galette flopped back onto the bed and huffed “So, did Katakuri inform you of everything?” She asked with a smirk.  
Tilting her head Rosalina shrugged, she was told what she was told, if Katakuri had left anything out then she’d be none the wiser anyway “He informed me of who was who, what my duties would be on Biscuit Island, who Cracker is and that I will wear the wedding dress Big Mom has chosen for me.” Having gone into extensive detail on each subject Katakuri had left little room for more questions or the excuse of not knowing how it would work.

  
Even if she couldn’t choose her own wedding dress Big Mom had been kind enough to let her have some say, something old, borrowed and blue were her choices, along with the flowers for her bouquet. A small gesture for having accepted the offer herself without interference from her father.

  
With a scowl on her face Galette shot back up “Oh that bastard! No wonder he insisted I pay you a visit tonight.” She hissed grabbing one of the pillows and punching it.  
Katakuri had purposely left out a few things, leaving it so Galette would have to put some work in for this instead of just coming along for her own amusement. That and it seemed Galette had grown close to Rosalina, some things would be better coming from her.

  
“I’m guessing Katakuri forgot a few things, well, least you can help.” Trying to keep optimistic she patted Galette on the shoulder, pulling her knees to her chest Rosalina turned on the bed, curious to know what she hadn’t been told. It was either unimportant small details if they’d slipped off the agenda earlier.  
With a pillow on her lap and her forehead resting in her hand Galette grumbled under her breath “Well, it’s probably better coming from me anyways, less awkward.”   
Scooting back onto the bed Galette kicked off her shoes, no point being uncomfortable for this.  
Unsure where exactly to start she decided to approach it not so delicately.

  
“I’m not gonna beat around the bush with this like my damn brother did. We gotta discuss your sexual history, as well as the medications you take.” As much as Galette would rather leave that conversation for a doctor to have it was now her task to get the information for Mama.

 

Blushing slightly Rosalina looked down at the bed sheets, she was now glad Katakuri neglected to bring up those topics, it had been awkward enough listening to him talk about Cracker needed to know he was not a failure and she had to try be close to him. If he’d started asking about those things she’d probably have hopped off the chair and ran out the door.

  
Pinching the bridge of her nose Rosalina knew this conversation wouldn’t go away by simply ignoring it, as much as she’d like it to.  
“Look, the pills are more to help with my period than anything, the pain was so bad I was bedridden for nearly a whole week. Without them I’m at risk of bleeding out too much.” That part she didn’t mind sharing, it’d been no secret to the crew when she started vomiting and screaming in her bed for a quarter of each month. There weren’t many options aside from contraceptive pills to help ease the crippling pain, much to the disapproval of her father.

  
“We have pills that will do the same in regard to lessening the pain and bleeding but they are not a contraceptive. Mama will happily provide new pills but they won’t lessen your fertility, it’s sort of a rule among the family, no contraceptive after marriage.” Trying to explain as clearly as she could Galette knew the rule was a ridiculous one, it was a rule inspired by Big Moms dream to have a large family that included all races.

  
Scrunching her nose Rosaline groaned, she didn’t want to give up her pills in exchange for new ones, even if they did what she needed most the safety net the provided was one that she’d grown used to, it wasn’t a safety net she fell back on often but it was nice to have none the less.  
Seeing the displeasure on the girls face Galette gave a sympathetic smile, while she wasn’t a fan of the rule it had led to her having three beautiful children whom she adored to no end.

  
Fearing what else there was to discuss Rosalina wanted to get ahead of the questions and not make this anymore awkward for her or Galette “As for my history. It’s practically ancient by now, any guy who is interested in me is either run off or disappears after a while. I don’t have many stories to tell but I will admit I’m not some angelic virgin.”   
Quizzically raising an eyebrow Galette was somewhat confused, with her fathers reputation and the fact she sailed upon Red Force she’d thought there’d be a line of admirers trying to make the daughter of Yonko Shanks swoon, then again, Shanks had seemed almost overbearingly protective when they’d arrived.

“Oh don’t give me that look. I tried having a love life but you’ve seen the men I sail with, my options for romance have been severely limited, not non-existent but still limited.” In hindsight maybe a few more risks would have been worth it, allowing herself to be romanced by a handsome pirate sounded better with her arranged marriage looming ahead.

  
Her father never approved of her dating anyone who didn’t sail or live under his flag, more about knowing she would be safe than anything else. Of course she had disobeyed his wishes a few times, during her teenage years she had been quite rebellious, going so far as to try date a young Marine just for a new experience.  
Listening intently Galette raised a finger, insisting that Rosalina pause, she wasn’t one to pass up the chance to have a good gossip, especially with someone who was near enough family. Reaching over to the night stand she grabbed the den-den Mushi to call the kitchen.

  
Quickly ordering that some tea be brought to the room she nodded “If we’re gonna get into this no sense we can’t have a relaxing drink. So, what was your first boyfriend like? Aside from probably dead now.” Gesturing for Rosalina to continue Galette leaned back and relaxed, it’d been some time since she’d had a nice gossip about relationships.  
Finding Galettes new found interest more alike to a friend seeking some gossip than a woman fishing for information it couldn’t hurt to tell her of the few romances she’d had. It was amusing that Galette assumed the boy had been killed.

  
“Okay. I was about fourteen, dad had taken a new island under his protection. The boy was from another pirate crew, he was sweet and brought me a little cacti he’d picked up from a desert island.” Rosalina couldn’t help but smile at the memory, as first relationships went she’d considered it to be a success, despite her fathers cagey and hostile behaviour to the boy “We parted on good terms though, I hear he’s somewhere in West Blue these days.”

  
Galette pouted and sighed, she’d expected there to be more blood considering how Shanks acted “Second relationship, did that end as well or is that when the romance became limited.” She asked, she wanted to hear just how bloody Shanks was willing to get his hand in regard to his child.

 

  
Rolling her eyes Rosalina should have known Galette would want the more unpleasant details of her love life, a true gossip indeed.  
“Second relationship fizzled out and we remain good friends.. Third relationship is when everyone else got involved. I was fifteen, he was a bit older, handsome, and a pirate, smug bastard too-“Grabbing another pillow Rosalina lay down on the bed and stretched out.

  
“-What I didn’t know is he was just after me because of who my dad was, I shoulda known it was too good to be true, no guy is that interested in hearing about my chores. Dad found out after the guy was mouthing off in a bar, bragging about whose daughter he’d slept with. Dad killed him then and there, no warning, no words, just stabbed him in the chest and walked away.”   
Rosalina couldn’t bring herself to be mad at her father for his actions; it couldn’t have been easy learning such things from a drunken pirate in a shitty bar. But, Shanks had never been angry with her or upset, he’d been more concerned about a degenerate who’d been stringing her along.

  
Leaning forward Galette patted her arm, she knew all too well what that’d been like, one or two of her own sisters had been tricked by a pirate and used, they hadn’t lived much longer anyway. With eighty-four siblings it was a regrettable choice to hurt any of them, especially the little sisters.

 

Once the tea arrived Galette got up and brought it in, thanking the chef before slamming the door shut, abrupt and unnecessary rude but she wanted more details and gossip.  
The two continued talking for some time, Galette, in return for hearing more about Rosalinas love life divulged the details of her own, how her first husband was a nasty piece of trash that Perospero killed less than six months into the marriage.

  
It was comforting for Rosalina to hear that Galette had married a second time and had three children, the youngest of which was a few months old, the look on Galettes face when she spoke about her children was dreamy and full of delight. It made Rosalina a little jealous to see how happy Galette was.

  
But the look of shock on the womans face as she was told about the illicit fling with a young Marine was one Rosalina would treasure forever, she nearly choked on her tea upon hearing it.

  
As the night drew on they got off-topic and ended up talking about the recent events in the New World, three Supernova becoming allied with Kaido, the ‘death’ of Vice Admiral Vergo and his selfless sacrifice to save dozens of kidnapped children. Rosalina had kept tight lipped on her knowledge of Kaido, she wasn’t going to open that can of worms.  
“It’s getting late, you have a big day tomorrow and being exhausted will only upset Mama.” Galette finally said with a yawn, it was past midnight and they would enter Totto Land just before dawn. With the day she had ahead Rosalina would need both sleep and caffeine to get through it.

 

Saying their goodbyes Galette was soon gone, wishing her a goodnight and promising that Cracker wouldn’t mistreat her.

 

Finally able to unwind she looked to her two Homie friends and sighed, this was as alone as she’d get for a while. Going into her bathroom Rosalina changed into her pyjamas before climbing into the bed.  
Grabbing the book she’d set down Rosalina continued reading aloud to the Homies, both lamp and chair were delighted she was reading to them again. Continuing until she reached the end of the chapter all three seemed content with calling it a night.  
“Good night~ Good night~ Tomorrow will be a good day~” Both chair and lamp sang in unison as Rosalina snuggled down into the blanket.  
“I hope so. Goodnight, guys. Please wake me once we’re a few hours away, I need all the rest I can get.” She yawned before closing her eyes for the night   
“Of course~ Of course~ Have sweet dreams, miss~” Was their response before going completely silent as Lamp switched off and Chair went back to his table.

* * *

 

  
Managing to get a good few hours of good sleep it was past dawn when the lamp and chair resumed their happy singing.  
“Good morning~ Good morning~ The sun has risen~ We are in Totto Land~” Both sang softly as they bounced around the room.  
“We passed the first island not long ago~ We sail past more now~ We’re on the secret route~” They sang with delight.

  
Groaning as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes Rosalina reluctantly sat up in the bed, as a morning alarm went the singing furniture was better than the air horn used aboard Red Force.

  
Taking a moment to bring herself back to reality she stretched out and moaned as her bones cracked, dragging herself out of the bed she rummaged through one of her trunks.  
“G’morning, guys. I’m gonna take a shower before breakfast, if Beckman comes by let him know.” Taking two towels and a set of clothes she went to the bathroom, locking the door behind her spent a moment just sitting on the floor.  
She knew it didn’t matter what she chose to wear, Big Mom would have her outfit for Tea Time waiting at her Chateau, whatever she wore was for her own comfort until they reached Whole Cake Island.

  
“I can do this, I’m freaking over nothing. It’ll be fine as long as I make an effort.” Reassuring herself that her worry was for nothing she undressed and got into the bathtub.  
Taking her time Rosalina made sure she was clean and going to look her best, first impressions meant everything in these situations. With extra attention to her hair she washed it twice over and debated if her scars would be considered unsightly.   
Making every attempt to avoid mockery or disdain from Charlotte children she had to look her best. Though trying to shave ones legs on a sailing ship was a task in itself, every time a large wave hit the ship it risked a cut.

  
Sitting down in the tub she began to take deep breaths, the more she thought on it the more insane it all seemed “I can do this, it’ll be over soon.” She muttered, looking at the blood on her hand then to the small cut on her thigh, the amount of blood from a few localised cuts was more than she’d expected a stupid mistake on her part for being so clumsy.

  
Calming herself and steadying her nerves it was fair to assume she was right about that, her worry would end once she spoke to Cracker and they cleared the tension. But still, this was all inanity to her

  
Having the balls to talk to Charlotte Linlin herself, convincing her crew to let her do this, demanding her father not let anyone retaliate against her decision and actively packing up her entire life to run towards an arranged marriage. It was pure madness that she’d simply rolled with for the sake of peace.  
Hearing muffled voices from the other room the Homies were speaking to someone, with the noise of the water she couldn’t make out more than the two happy Homies and a third voice, barely audible.

  
Whinging softly Rosalina quickly left the warmth of the shower and began drying off, wrapping a towel around herself she began wringing out here hair then rubbing it with another towel to dry it quicker. A sudden pounding on the door nearly had her slip on the wet floor, whoever had been talking to the Homies didn’t seem to want to wait for her to finish in her own time.

  
“Rosalina, we’re a bit ahead of schedule and we’re coming up on Jam Island, we are stopping near Nuts Island to meet Amande, she’s waiting for us already. You need to dress quickly if you want breakfast.” Galette called from the other side of the door.  
Hearing they were approaching the meeting point Rosalina grew more nervous, she was grateful she’d get some time to speak with Cracker alone but the uncertainty of it all didn’t help.

  
“Y-yea, gimme a few minutes and I’ll be right out.” She replied quickly, taking her towel off Rosalina took little time to get dressed. It didn’t matter what she wore today since Galette informed her Big Mom had an outfit for her to wear for Tea Time, whatever she wore now was only going to be useful until arriving at Whole Cake Chateau.

  
With a pair of old jeans, a black t-shirt and a denim jacket Rosalina was ready, unlocking and opening the bathroom door she went directly for her hairbrush and started brushing her mess of hair “Brush and walk, breakfast is all laid out for you in one of the dining rooms.” Galette grabbed onto her arm and was quick to drag her out of the bedroom.

* * *

 

“Relax, Cracker. Even if Mama wants Katakuri to make a direct line from Nuts to Whole Cake you still have twenty minutes to speak with her.” Amande patted her brother on the shoulder as she set a plate down in front of him.

  
Cracker didn’t want to eat, how could he? He was beyond nervous and couldn’t think of a single thing he wanted to ask the poor girl he’d marry, with the added pressure from his mother to impress his new bride he couldn’t do very much of his own accord.  
Looking miserably down at his breakfast he could appreciate his sister going to the trouble of cooking it herself, the Mad Moiselle had many talents indeed; her skill with a sword was only the tip of the iceberg.

  
“Thanks, Amande. Twenty is better than nothing, dunno what I’ll say to her, I mean, saying ‘Yeah sorry I fucked everything up and you’re marrying the family failure but at least you get a life time supply of cake’ doesn’t do much.” He snorted, closing his eyes he leaned back in his chair, Cracker didn’t have to look to know both Amande and Dante were unimpressed by him.

  
As stubborn as he was Cracker wouldn’t refuse a meal from his sister, Amande knew how to make a good breakfast and arrange it like a face, and it was a nice touch.  
Dante, having already dug into his breakfast had some advice for Cracker on the subject, advice he hadn’t got to use considering the circumstances of his own wedding but it was advice for an opportunity he and Katakuri would have loved to have.

  
Swallowing a mouthful of bacon and gulping down some coffee Dante stopped his eating for a moment and decided to offer what he could “Keep the conversation light, don’t overwhelm her with expectations. Maybe ask if she’d be up to spending time with you before the big day, getting to know each other can only be a good thing. I’ll see what I can set up for you pair, a date or two can’t hurt.”

  
‘A date or two? Great, more chances to fail’ Cracker thought to himself, resigning himself to eating rather than giving a reply he picked up his cutlery and dug in, he’d never managed to get a date in the past but having one arranged for him seemed so humiliating.

  
Letting Dante ramble on it wasn’t long before he’d finished his breakfast and a Chess Soldier came to announce Katakuris ship was in sight.   
It was all hands on deck aboard both ships, Rosalina was quickly moved off to a private room and Cracker had to sit back down once he’d gone up onto deck.

Upon both ships coming alongside each other a platform was laid between the rails, Katakuri and Galette greeted their siblings and made short work of their exchange, any long winded conversations would arouse suspicion.

  
As soon as Cracker set foot on the ship he wanted to get back off and run, if it weren’t for Dante pushing him along he probably would have too. Taking the report Katakuri had put together the newest Sweet Commander bid farewell to her siblings and readied her ship to depart, her first mission was to make sure Shanks wasn’t planning anything and to ‘escort’ him to the wedding safely, a task she wouldn’t take lightly given the circumstances.

  
With no time to waste Katakuri was bringing Cracker to speak to his bride, having already made a sturdy wall of Mochi there was no worry of them seeing one another, thus remaining firmly within the rules Mama had set forth.

  
“Try to keep it casual and don’t be too defensive, I’m going to be right outside so don’t worry. There is tea and cookies so if you can’t think of anything else talk about that.” Katakuri tried to comfort his brother but it was near useless at this point, he knew Cracker wasn’t going to try anything stupid or mess up catastrophically, though he was prepared for some mess up.

  
Stopping outside the door Katakuri shook his head, it was up to Cracker now, he had done his part in escorting and informing Rosalina and now it was Crackers job to try finding his way.

  
Opening the door Cracker was met with a thin wall of Mochi; set by the wall was a table with a large plate of cookies and a pot of tea on it.   
Practically being pushed inside by his brother Cracker took the hint and went to sit at the table, it was surreal to think she was on the other side of the wall, as the thoughts ran through Crackers head he suddenly realised he had nothing useful to say.

  
Clenching his fists Cracker couldn’t help but grin ‘ _Say something, say anything! Say hello at least, you fucking idiot!’_ his brain couldn’t settle on just one thing to say to her _‘No wonder Mama thinks I’m such a failure I can’t even get a simple greeting done properly!’_

  
Desperately trying to think of a good opening line the chance was taken away by noise from the other side of the wall

  
“Atchoo! Atchoo!” Rosalina had been trying to give him time to speak but her body had a different plan, holding back the sneezes wasn’t as easy as she’d thought.

  
Almost on instinct Cracker responded “oh, bless you.” With all the younger siblings he had there was always someone sneezing or sniffling at gatherings, over time he’d gotten so used to responding it was a basic response for him when someone sneezed hear him.  
“Thank you, Cracker.” Rosalina replied, slightly embarrassed she’d taken his chance to be initiator of the conversation away, though it was one way to get the ball rolling considering they didn’t have too long.

  
Being thanked wasn’t something Cracker was overly used to, the only ones who thanked him were close siblings, grovelling underlings or desperate victims. It’d never come from a sweet young woman before and he felt quite proud of himself. He’d said three words and not messed up, it was a new record for him _‘Don’t blow it now! Keep calm and don’t fuck this up, dumbass!’_

  
Taking a sip of his tea Cracker noted that it was one of his favourites, he wondered if Rosalina had been given her favourite tea too “You’re welcome. So, do you have Hibiscus and rose tea as well?” He asked before his brain could overthink his words.

  
Looking into her teacup Rosalina picked the cup up and tasted the hot beverage “I think so. Katakuri said it was your favourite, we only have one kind of tea on Red Force so I never had it before but it tastes really nice” She had to admit the blend was different, fancy teas weren’t much of a thing aboard Red Force, it was a standard gold blend tea or nothing.

  
“What!” Cracker half yelled, more out of shock thank anything else “Well I promise you’re gonna be getting hibiscus and rose tea every day from now on. No future wife of mine is gonna settle for a single option”

  
Before his mind could stop his words they were already gone ‘I got at least thirty words out before I fucked up. Was good while it lasted, now I want to fucking die.’ Cracker mentally chastised himself for his ridiculous statement, how could he let himself say something so stupid and forward?  
Putting his cup down Cracker was prepared to get up and run for the door before he said anymore ridiculous words when he heard laughing from the other side of the Mochi wall.

  
In truth Rosalina had found his claim to be one made in humour to try break the tension, she couldn’t see him and therefor had no idea he was looking like a nervous wreck. To her it seemed he was merely nervous about it all.

  
She couldn’t help laugh at his statement, after all her nervousness over meeting him it wasn’t as bad as she’d thought, a little humour and kindness was all that was needed to settle her nerves “Careful, I’m gonna be holding you to that promise every single day from now on, _future husband~_.” She laughed with delight.  
But poor Cracker wasn’t laughing at all, he’d been serious with his claim, he didn’t know how anyone could survive on one type of tea alone! Yes, hibiscus and rose was his favourite but he loved so many other teas he couldn’t live with just his favourite alone.

  
The words ‘future husband’ were what almost sent him topping off his chair, of all the replies she could give he hadn’t expected that to be one of them ‘ _She took it seriously! She wants tea with me every day! I haven’t ruined it yet!’_ Cracker was ecstatic, he’d been so terrified of his bride being some cutthroat pirate who would despise him entirely.

  
“I’ve got many different kinds of teas, we can sit and have a different tea every day when we get home to Biscuits Island.” His delighted and eager mind was beginning to run away with itself, Cracker was imagining himself setting aside half an hour each day to have some tea with her.

  
When no response came Cracker realised how insensitive his words must have sounded, the girl had just left her true home behind and he was already calling Biscuits Island her home, if she’d consider calling it her home at all _'Oh for the love of- am I determined to wreck this or something!'_

  
“I think I’d like that very much, Cracker. Having tea with you every day is a great idea.” Even if his words had stung a little she wasn’t about to make a problem out of it, it hadn’t sounded ill intended at all but it was the truth. Her new home would be on Biscuits Island and it would be with Charlotte Cracker, his idea to have tea together was a nice idea to get to know one another.

  
Rosalina had kept her expectations low up until this point but given Crackers friendly and chipper attitude she was starting to raise them. If she’d ended up engaged to someone willing to make an effort then she in turn would gladly do the same, a little effort from both sides was all it would take for a peaceful marriage.

  
And if there hadn’t been a wall of Mochi separating them she may have leaned over to kiss his cheek as reassurance that his promise was much appreciated.

 


	5. Time for Tea

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> chapter 5.  
> Hope y'all enjoy, since the setup is done we shall move swiftly along in the next chapter.  
> Also included in this is: me, investing much in Katakuri and Dante (will begin their story soon)
> 
> kudos, comment, enjoy and have a nice day.  
> i dont own one piece.

He didn’t like waiting around for anything, he despised having to sit doing nothing while others had to do all the work, if he had his way he’d be in the room mediating the entire conversation between Rosalina and Cracker, goodness knew what Cracker would say if left to his own devices.

Being forced to stay outside wasn’t entirely unbearable for him though, after making a comfortable Mochi chair outside the door Dante had come running down the hallway to greet him

 

A box of cookies in hand he was pulled onto Katakuris lap as a full report was more or less demanded on how Cracker had been coping “All considered, I think he’s doing fine. He’s eating, he got a lot of rest and he hasn’t cried once today so it’s looking good.” Dante sighed, of course he was worried about how Cracker would cope talking with the girl on her own, it certainly couldn’t be worse than the first time he and Katakuri had been left alone together.

 

It wasn’t long before a raised voice followed by laughter was heard from within the room, breathing a sigh of relief Katakuri was glad it hadn’t all gone pear shaped “Relax, Cracker can handle this.” Dante murmured leaning back and stretching out, with nothing else to do but wait he made the most of what little time he’d have with Katakuri.

 

“Mama was pleased with the monthly produce reports, she even praised us for doing well with all the chaos that happened.” The young man grinned, it was rare Big Mom outwardly complemented how Komugi island was doing, she expected no less than constant perfection from her second son.

 

Katakuri felt uncomfortable receiving such praise from his mother when he had been neglecting his Ministerial duties since the Strawhat incident, with everything mother demanded and how he was needed to help on Whole Cake he’d barely returned to Komugi since the day of the wedding.

 

If anything it was down to Dante that things hadn’t fallen into sheer chaos in his absence, then again Dante had helped with governing the island for years. He couldn’t help but feel a little bad for leaving everything to his other half, it was one thing to help govern an island but being left to do it alone in the wake of utter turmoil wasn’t an easy task

 

“I’ll make it up to you when we get back home, just a bit longer and things will calm down. I’ll make up for the lost time.” Katakuri huffed, he didn’t see any major disasters in the immediate future but if things continued as they were it’d all go smoothly.

 

Raising an eyebrow Dante looked up at his husband “What for? Leaving me as the temporary Minister or forgetting our wedding anniversary?” Avoiding eye contact Katakuri knew the truth would only serve to dig himself further into a hole. He had entirely forgotten about their anniversary until his sister mentioned it in passing and asked what plans they had.

 

“I- uh- well- How do you know I forgot? I could have had a wonderful surprise planned.” In a vain attempt to think up a better excuse Katakuri could practically see himself sleeping on the floor for the next month.

After a few seconds Dantes’ expression changed to a scowl and at that moment, Katakuri knew, he fucked up.

 

“You lying shithead, you forgot our anniversary and I know you did. Be glad you’re so fucking cute or I’d kick your Mochi ass.” Feigning an expression of sorrow Dante slumped forward until his head rested on Katakuris knee.

 

Realising Dante wasn’t as wounded as he let on the Mochi man snorted and crossed his arms “You can barely reach that high with your hands, never mind your damn legs. I, on the other hand, can do whatever I wish to yours and you can’t do a damn thing to stop me.” A smug smirk was hidden beneath his scarf as he knew Dante was much more accessible than he was. Whether it be low to the ground or on the other side of a room Katakuri could extend his arm long enough to playfully annoy or distract his husband, knowing he couldn’t do the same in return frustrated Dante to no end.

 

With a disgruntled growl Dante gave up, settling for lying on Katakuris lap and eating cookies instead of trying to argue any further. Happily munching the box of cookies both enjoyed the near silence and peace, it wasn’t much different to what they did in their spare time anyway, though Dante did wish he had brought a book along.

 The relaxation and ease of the two lasted until Benn Beckman finally found where they were.

Having been delayed by Galette nagging about his rude behaviour it didn’t take him long to find the Mochi man.

 Beckman had to admit to himself, it was quite a strange sight, the terrifying and feared Charlotte Katakuri being used as a lounging chair to a young man eating a box of cookies. The more he learned about the Charlotte family the more weird they seemed to get.

 

Eyeing the pair suspiciously Beckman leaned against the wall opposite the door, he didn’t like having to wait outside any more than Katakuri did, both were equally worried about the pair inside, the only person not being anxious seemed to be Dante.

 

“You want a cookie?” Dante offered to Beckman, unlike Katakuri he had a more open and friendly approach to strangers, having much knowledge of Yonko Shanks and his highest crew mates it was only logical to make an introduction.

 

Taking the lack of response as a sign of distrust Dante could hardly blame him, he hadn’t done anything overly memorable outside of the Charlotte family or anything to have him recognised by his face alone “Fair enough. I’m Charlotte Dante by the way, it’s really cool to meet the first mate of Red Hair Shanks, pity it’s not under better circumstances.” By himself Dante was another mundane and forgettable member of the Charlotte family, the only reason no one forgot him was due to his marriage status.

Raising an eyebrow Beckman realised who the strange but polite young man was. He remembered the mass of rumours surrounding the marriage of Charlotte Katakuri, at the time it had been a big deal.

 

Hearing Big Mom marrying off one of her most powerful children to the meek and timid son of an underworld mobster had been big news back then.

From what he heard Beckman imagined quite a different relationship given Katakuris reputation and status, it gave him some hope for Rosalinas impending marriage.

 

Even so, Beckman felt it couldn’t hurt to be on first name terms with the young man, they were all going to be allies soon and despite his refusal to accept the truth he would have to answer to Charlotte Linlin at least a few times in the future.

 

“Dante, huh. Can’t say I’ve heard a lot about you, has he kept you under lock and key the past few years or what? Wouldn’t be surprising given _his_ reputation.” Beckman asked, he was curious as to why there’d been little to no word heard of the strange boy for some time, most assumed he’d been killed or was under some kind of house arrest.

 

Katakuri resented the comment that he was doing such a thing, the assumption that he was an unfair husband was something Dante could never stand to hear, he wouldn’t stand for anyone calling Katakuri anything other than a dutiful and kind husband.

“I assure you Dante is free to come and go from Komugi Island and Totto land as he wishes. I don’t appreciate what you’re insinuating but instead of making gross assumptions about the relationships of others why not just ask? We’ll all be allies soon so senseless gossip will have no place among us.” Before Dante could get a word out Katakuri was already containing the situation, his temper in regards to Katakuri being insulted was known for being short through all of Totto Land.

 

 Feeling underwhelmed Dante pouted and let his arms hang limply over his husbands’ legs, no matter how much he wanted to jump in and defend his Mochi Man it was useless once Katakuri started defusing the situation, Dante much preferred to see the sadistic and argumentative side of his husband over the diplomatic side. Either way it would be easier in the long run if everyone remained friendly.

 

Sitting himself up Dante leaned back to rest against Katakuris chest, having such a giant husband had more perks than one would think “People find it hard to believe that I love him but what’s not to love? He’s an absolute sweetie who’d raise hell for me.” With a coy smirk it was clear to Beckman that was a rhetorical question, as much as it wasn’t his business he needed to get as much information as he could on Big Moms crew, which included the spouses.

 

Remaining quiet Beckman tried to hear what was going on inside the room, he worried Rosalina was going to be put in some danger or have her life threatened during this little meeting, despite the promise of safety and secrecy he wasn’t yet at the point where he would blindly believe what any Charlotte child told him.

There wasn’t much to be heard from inside save for vaguely discernible words and muffled voices, voices were enough to take the edge off his anxiety, shaking his head Beckman cursed himself for agreeing to this.

 

 The quick glimpse he’d caught of Cracker when he boarded was enough to make his stomach drop, he couldn’t imagine that sweet and tiny girl marrying such a brutish man, respected pirate or not to Beckman thought he wasn’t worthy to marry her. A sentiment he knew his captain and crew would share.

Noticing the annoyance growing on the old pirates face Dante and Katakuri exchanged a worried glance, the plan would only work as long as suspicion was minimised and it would certainly maximise if Beckman started to cause problems for them “Instead of looking so annoyed, be grateful they’re even meeting before the wedding. Mama is being generous, not even Mamas favourites get that luxury” Dante nagged throwing a cookie at Beckman.

 

Having been the undisputed favourite at the time Katakuri wasn’t given such a luxury as to even see Dante before the wedding, the fact that Cracker was being given almost three days to get to know Rosalina was more to taunt Shanks than anything else. There hadn’t been much jealousy as a result since Cracker had taken such a severe punishment; almost all the siblings could agree that their brother deserved something good.

 

Before another word could be said Galette was running down the hallway “Mama has sent Brother Oven to greet us, we’re dropping anchor in a moment.” She warned sprinting towards them.

 

Katakuri hadn’t seen this! It must’ve been a sudden last minute decision in case anything went astray on the voyage, or maybe Mama had gotten suspicious as to why Cracker left with Amande, either way he wouldn’t agree with their secret plan and would probably  tell Mama.

 

Quickly getting off his chair Katakuri sent Dante face first into the floor, with no warning and the sudden shock there was no time to react or demand to be set down. Sadly, it had become a common occurrence in Dantes life.

 

“Cracker, we need to go now and we need to hurry. Oven has come to greet us, get up and move quickly.” Katakuri ordered, he knew that if Oven caught wind of what they were doing it’d mean a mountain of trouble for them all.

 

Almost immediately the door was flung open, Cracker poked his head out, looking up and down the hallway he scrunched his nose. He’d been having such a nice time and it was to be cut short by Oven arriving unannounced, though the thoughts of actually seeing Rosalina  in person in a few hours was enough to keep him from pitching a fit “Sorry but I’ll see you later. Thanks for being so cool about all this.” Cracker called back into the room, feeling that running off without a goodbye was somehow rude.

 

 

Without another word both Cracker and Galette ran off down the hallway and turned at the first corner they came to, with little time to spare Katakuri stepped inside the room to remove his Mochi wall. Placing his hands against his confectionary creation it was quickly absorbed into his body, as the wall began to lower and disappear he could hear Oven yelling somewhere nearby.

 

Watching with fascination Rosalina witnessed the wall before her disappear entirely, trying to hide the smile on her face she hid it behind her teacup “Beckman, come here and try this tea. It’s super yummy.” Setting her cup down she lifted the teapot and filled the spare cup that sat on her table.

 

* * *

 

Finding Katakuri on his self-made chair holding his tiny husband Oven rolled his eyes, upon closer inspection he found that Dante was bleeding and Katakuri was muttering to himself “Trouble in paradise?” Oven asked as he approached, his comment earning him a quick glare from both.

Thankfully they’d managed to cover their tracks before Oven arrived, Katakuri didn’t like lying to his brother but when push came to shove Cracker needed him more than Oven did right now “Tsk, he forgot I was sitting on him and he stood up. On the plus side I found out the floor wax is lemony.” Dante scoffed holding a blooded handkerchief to his nose.

Silently judging the pair Oven dismissed his earlier thoughts of hearing Crackers voice, he knew Cracker was somewhere on the ship with Galette and Katakuri took his missions too seriously to let Mamas orders be disobeyed “Mama has rescheduled the Tea Time so we haven’t long to get the brat to the Chateau.” Oven felt mildly annoyed that he was expected to polite with another possible traitor.

 

So soon after what happened with Chiffon and Pudding he wasn’t too keen to have another wedding, Oven wasn’t eager to see his family betrayed or attacked once again under similar circumstances, after hearing how furious and upset Shanks was he and a few others were expecting some retaliation.

 

Giving a weary sigh Katakuri shook his head “Brother Oven, she has been nothing but compliant and understanding thus far so be respectful, it’d be bad if Shanks heard we had mistreated her, worse if it is witnessed by his first mate..” He warned gesturing to the door, Oven did have quite the temper on him and the last thing they needed before stepping onto Whole Cake was an argument or a fist fight.

 

Wrapping one arm around Dante he stood up and quickly disposed of his Mochi chair, between setting Dante down safely and getting rid of the chair he had no time to stop Oven barging into the room.

 

“Oi, change of plan we’re going no, move your fucking ass before I move it for you, bride.” He ordered, with a less than pleased expression on his face Beckman shook his head, it was one thing having Katakuri calling the shots and barking the orders but it was another for a stranger to start doing the same, what was worse still was how he’d spoken to Rosalina.

 

 

Raising the gun that had been sitting on his lap Beckman finished his tea and set the cup back down on the table “First off, we aren’t moving until she finishes her tea. Second, who the fuck are you? Third, speak to her like that again and I shoot you.” Beckman replied in a calm tone, more concerned that Rosalina could be mistreated in the future if any threat was ignored.

After all, he was only her chaperone until the wedding and it was unlikely anyone else would take that position after her marriage.

 

As Oven and Beckman had a competition of angry glares and sour faces Rosalina quickly gulped down her tea and got up with a huff “Honestly, it’s like I never fucking left Red Force.” Grabbing her jacket from the back of the chair her gaze turned to Beckman “Oh for go- Beckman put it away! I can shoot someone myself if needed.” She barked.

 

Displeased at not getting to say goodbye to Cracker and having her tea with Beckman cut short she stomped past both men and out into the hallway “Apologies for my little brother, he’s quite forward but he means no harm.” Katakuri chuckled as he began leading Rosalina back towards the deck.

 

* * *

 

Rosalina had heard the stories of Totto Land being a culmination of sweet treats and delights where nearly everything was edible but she hadn’t truly believed such childish things. The mountains of cakes and the frost covered ground were so much more than she’d dreamed, the sweet smell of baked goods, cream and frostings filled the air around her, it was like a childhood dream come true.

 

Eyes wide with pure delight a wide, open mouthed smile formed on her face as she ran to rails and looked out that the cake filled wonderland “Holy shit! This place really is made outta cakes, oh this is so cool! And it’s all edible!” She exclaimed, looking up at the towering confectionary she squealed with excitement.

 

As Katakuri fashioned a staircase out of Mochi to save time Oven grumbled to himself, he didn’t understand why Katakuri was acting so patient and polite towards the girl, she was just another pawn for their mothers’ game and related by marriage or not he wouldn’t make the same mistakes he had with Bege and Chiffon.

 

“No time for daydreaming, the Tea Time has been moved up and I’ll be damned if you’re going to meet our mama looking so dishevelled.” He spat reaching down and pulling her along by her jacket, growling under her breath Rosalina crossed her arms. She couldn’t count how many times a member of the Red Hair pirates had dragged her along by her clothing or berated her for her outfits.

 

Despite Ovens unwelcoming nature it was making her feel more at home, she wasn’t being treated like a glass doll or a piece of cargo; she was being treated like a bratty kid once again.

 

“Fuck me, it really is like I never left Red Force.” She grumbled as she, allowing herself to be dragged, or more lifted, across the deck. If time was short then arguing over a lack of manners could wait until later, at least she was getting transported without having to make a single effort.

 

Seeing no major problems with this in the future Katakuri ignored his brothers actions, descending down the stairs he was glad to finally be back in a familiar place, as per usual the Port of Whole Cake Island was bustling with activity.

 

Everyone had started going about their usual business once more, speaking little of the recent upsets they all knew it was safer and better to not discuss the topic in public or near any Charlotte Siblings.

 

Their arrival hadn’t gone unnoticed, the whole of Totto Land had heard this morning that Lord Cracker was to be married in a few days, Big Mom had made the joyous announcement herself and asked each Minister to inform their respective islands. Though the full identity of his bride was to be announced via the newspapers there was much speculation as to who the lucky lady was.

Seeing the residents beginning to make a crowd around the port Oven set the girl down, being seen to manhandle his future sister-in-law wouldn’t go down well with their Mama at all, as Oven stepped away Beckman finally appeared on deck.

 

Arriving onto the deck he saw Rosalina looking out over the island, to say he was shocked would be an understatement. Never had he set foot in Totto Land before and never had he believed the wild and outlandish tales of it being a place of sweet treats and whimsical happenings. Blinking with surprise he made his way over to her and leaned in close “Am I having a fucking stroke or some sorta brain aneurysm? This place is made of cake.” He whispered to her, somewhat horrified to find the main island was indeed a Whole Cake.

 

Leading him to believe the names of the other islands weren’t just for aesthetics and they were all indeed foods too. With a massive grin on her face Rosalina nodded and made her way down the Mochi staircase. To her surprise the docks too were made of candy, it looked to be made of thick, hard candy, she was half tempted to try breaking a piece off just to taste.

 

After a moment of taking in her surroundings Rosalinas gaze was drawn along the coast, just past a large cake she could see the tops of green trees. Shuddering as she remembered the tales Luffy had told her father upon arriving, the ‘ _haunted’_ forest and the ‘ _mirror witch’_ within it.

 

“C’mon, kiddo, don’t give them any reason to gawp at you anymore than they are. We’re too far gone for second thoughts and regrets.” Coming up behind her Beckman placed a hand on her shoulder, with the crowds growing larger it wouldn’t be long before someone made the right connections.

 

The thoughts alone of what waited ahead were enough to make her stomach drop; as much as she appreciated Beckmans comfort Rosalina knew it wouldn’t last much longer.

Being escorted from the docks the whispers and murmurs of the surrounding crowd only grew louder once Beckman had been recognised.

 

Not one citizen had thought the first mate to another Yonko would set foot in Totto Land without a declaration of war being made, along with the happy news of Lord Crackers engagement speculation was quickly cast as to why he was there and if the bride-to-be was in fact a member of the Red Hair pirates.

 

A rather large carriage stood waiting for them just off the docks, yet again, made entirely out of confectionary. Biscuit exterior, liquorice roof, doughnut wheels, rock candy floor and large seats made from Mochi.

 

Ahead of the carriage with bubble-gum reins attached to a large, green salamander. Another strange sight that seemed to faze the residents in the least, as many questions as the amphibian steed raised both Rosalina and Beckman remained quiet.

 

Climbing inside the carriage they were surprised at how comfortable it actually was, the back seat stretched the width of the carriage and had two large separate seats towards the front. Once inside Rosalina sat at the window and peered out the sugar string curtains, marvelling at the design and creativity of the island the carriage soon began to move, giving her new and more wondrous things to admire.

 

Beckman simply sat next to her, resting back in the seat he was surprised at how comfortable the chair actually was, it wasn’t long before he came to his own grim realizations. After the wedding he would resume his duties as a First Mate.

 

After the wedding Shanks would no doubt be either excessively hungover or paralytic. This place would be like some sort of wet dream for Lucky Roo, dragging him away wouldn’t be an easy task. If his captain was going to react how he imagined then he would have to haul the rest of the crew out of Totto Land as well.

 

Pinching the bridge of his nose Beckman sighed inwardly and thought to himself  _‘I’m getting too old for this shit.’_

 

In the front seats of the carriage sat Oven and Katakuri, Dante had once again decided that his husbands lap was the preferable place to sit. He couldn’t understand why his elder brother allowed his small spouse to climb all over him, in Ovens eyes it was unbefitting of a Minister and Sweet Commander to allow someone of lower status such liberties.

 

As Oven opened his mouth to speak Katakuri raised his hand to stop him “One word and you may get out and walk to the Chateau, the inner-workings of my marriage are not for your speculation or judgement. Besides-” Katakuri looked down at his sleepy husband and smirked beneath his scarf “-no one can hurt him again if he remains in my arms.”

 

Rolling his eyes Oven flared his nostrils, his brothers threats weren’t to be taken lightly, he knew full well Katakuri would throw him out of the moving carriage if he spoke against Dante or what his brother had said. Never mind the fact he was already on thin ice after his treatment of Rosalina.

* * *

 

Going through the Mirro World has been Galettes idea, not only did it solidify the story that Cracker only came to get a situation report but it helped follow the rules of him not seeing his fiancé. Of course Bruleè had been against partaking in the plan for fear Mama would find out and blame her.

 

The refusal didn’t last long when Galette not only reminded her of Cracker taking the blame for allowing her capture at the hands of Luffy but she also brought up the fact she knew of Bruleè and Diesels secret relationship and how she was happy to ‘ _forget’_ seeing them together if she helped Cracker.

 

Galette had always been truthful to her word so if she would forget what she saw Bruleè could trust not a word would be breathed to anyone else, not even Galettes husband would find out about it.

 

 Bruleè was pleased to see Cracker with a smile on his face upon entering the Mirro World, he’d looked so forlorn and desolate when she visited him. He hadn’t spoken much when she visited, just that he was glad to see her safe and unharmed, and as his elder sister she felt somewhat guilty for not doing more to resist capture after his defeat.

 

Walking through the Mirro World both sisters were subject to Crackers near incomprehensible ramblings, he was ecstatic over getting to talk with Rosalina, despite not being able to see her the conversation had gone better than he had expected.

 

His promise of making tea for her daily had been met with her own promise to make him breakfast once a week, after that the pair had talked idly about hobbies and interests they may have in common.

 

 Many of his siblings had held their own marriage together on the basis of common interests and shared hobbies; it had seemed like a good starting point for his own marriage given the circumstances.

 

Of course the short lived conversation did have a low point to it, Cracker had gotten so caught up in his joy of finding his bride wasn’t likely to kill him he’d mentioned the irony of remaining entirely single up until his wedding day.

 

For that Cracker had been tempted to, once again, get up and run as far away as possible out of the sheer embarrassment he’d caused himself.

 

Thankfully his embarrassing comment was met with Rosalina joking about how her father was the reason no relationship of hers lasted very long due to his overprotective nature and impossibly high standards.

 

“I can’t wait to see her! Oh, she sounds so sweet and kind! She likes to garden and grow things but since she mainly lived on the Red Haired pirates ship she couldn’t grow an awful lot so I’m gonna get the garden of Biscuit Manor all set up so she can grow whatever she desires.” He exclaimed with delight, his cheeks turning a sporting a slight shade of pink as she spoke.

 

His sisters nodded along in agreement, Cracker had always been strange around potential girlfriends and too focused on his work to bother getting one either. It was a relief to both women to see he hadn’t messed up yet and wasn’t panicking so much as before.

 

“I’ll have to get more varieties of tea for her too. I mean, can you believe they only got one kind of tea on Red Force, one single kind of tea?” Cracker sounded almost offended at his own statement “I’m gonna spoil her so rotten Shanks will have no choice but to accept this!”

 

Reaching up Galette patted her brothers’ arm, he was getting far too ahead of himself now, she’d heard enough from Rosalina to know impressing her dad was no easy task.

 

Three dead ex-boyfriends was more than enough proof of what standards he held “Calm down, Cracker, calm down. Let’s not fly before we can crawl, she’s not the sort of girl who takes to being spoiled.” Galette sighed and chuckled.

 

Bruleè had no prior knowledge of Rosalina so all she had to go on was what Galette and Cracker had said, though she’d be sure to do her own investigating later, Bruleè had to make sure this girl was the real deal and not some two-faced brat stringing her soft hearted brother along.

 

Chuckling nervously he rubbed the back of his neck, he knew he was getting a bit ahead of himself but he was just glad he hadn’t humiliated himself beyond redemption “Ah, sorry, I’m a bit overexcited now.”

 

With his new found confidence that he wouldn’t fail Cracker was more than ready for Tea Time with his mother, her demands and expectations of him to make a good impression had him scared stiff but since he’d already made his first impression there was no need to torment himself with worries.

 

Coming up to the required mirror Bruleè felt somewhat proud of Cracker, he’d pulled himself together quite well after his punishment and his newfound joy would help him all the more. Galette was the first to step through the mirror and into Crackers room of the chateau, she had her own business to attend to before she reported to Mama and had no time to waste.

 

Checking that Bruleè had sealed the portal behind him once he’d followed Galette through Cracker was grinning from ear to ear, after the short conversation with his future bride as well as having her picture he was thrilled at the idea of getting married.

 

Not only was his bride cute but she was understanding to the situation and willing to make an effort for a peaceful relationship. Of course, to Cracker that had sounded completely different, to him it sounded as if she wanted a marriage of romance and love. With nothing prior to compare it to and only having the relationships of his siblings as a guide Cracker was certain all would go as he wished.

 

“Wipe that grin off your face and get dressed, Mama is expecting you in ten minutes!” Galette barked from behind, with so little time to spare before he was to arrive at the Courtyard there wasn’t a second to be wasted. Rosalina was yet to arrive at the chateau and change before Tea Time but Crackers presence was required as soon as possible so Big Mom could speak with him.

 

Snapping out of his daydreams Cracker looked to see what clothes his mother had chosen for him to wear. Laid out on the bed was the outfit he was required to wear, finding his usual pauldron and cape weren’t laid out he pouted childishly, though he was thankful the majority of his usual attire was left untouched.

 

With the exception of his pauldron everything else was accounted for with the addition of a lilac coloured dress shirt, breathing a sigh of relief he was glad to see his sword had been cleaned and set next to his outfit, despite his Devil Fruit he did feel more at ease having Pretzel close at hand.

 

Being left alone once more Cracker let the grin slip back onto his face, he knew Mama wanted him to look his best for Tea Time so he wouldn’t complain about the minor outfit changes, a shirt wasn’t that big of a change after all.

 

Whilst getting dressed Cracker let his mind wander, including today, he had three days before the wedding, three days of opportunity to sweep his bride off her feet. He prayed he wouldn’t accidentally do it in the literal sense. Running through ideas in his head he still had so little knowledge of Rosalina and couldn’t decide what would be best to impress her or to spoil her.

 

“Maybe I can ask Galette, she should have an idea or two.. Maybe I can take her out to the Seducing woods if she likes creepy places or to Apple Juice Falls for a picnic.” He muttered to himself as he dressed, without a lot of knowledge he couldn’t plan a date very well.

 

Continuing to mutter ideas it wasn’t until he was buttoning his shirt that a knock came on the door, no doubt an escort to ensure he didn’t try sneaking a peak t Rosalina before tea time “Come in.” Cracker called, only turning to see who had come when he had buttoned his shirt.

 

Gladdened by the sight Cracker was also relieved to see Randolph closing the door as he entered; it had been on his mind what happened to his subordinate, Cracker was glad to see the rabbit Homie was alive and well and had not been put to death as a punishment.

 

“It is good to see you looking well, Lord Cracker, Mama has sent me to escort you to the Courtyard. I also must give my congratulations on your recent engagement, I’m sure you two shall make a lovely couple once wed.” The rabbit spoke, in truth he didn’t understand the concept of marriage or the significance it held, such rituals meant little to a rabbit but since it meant a great deal to his human friends it was a ritual he would partake in.

 

Grabbing Pretzel off the bed Cracker slid it back into its proper place behind his back, it felt good to feel the weight of the sword again, helping to stabilize his nagging anxieties and feel as if things were getting back to normal.

 

“Thank you, Randolph. I’m glad you’re escorting me, seeing as you’re alive I have an important job for you from now on.” Since Randolph was a direct subordinate of his he was to obey Crackers orders unless overruled by Big Mom herself.

 

For the past day Cracker had been thinking of ways to make things easier for his bride, going on the assumption that his subordinates had been spared the worst of his mothers’ wrath Cracker made his own plans on what he would do next.

 

Leaving the room the two began heading towards the candy staircase, for Cracker it was good to be walking around without his siblings fretting over him. Composing himself as they walked Cracker forced the smile off his face and replaced it with a neutral expression, a gigantic grin would be a tell-tale sign something was amiss.

 

Cracking his knuckles as they began to ascend the stairs Cracker glanced to Randolph.  Polite, direct and well trained in a fight he was just the right person, or bunny, Cracker needed “Once I am married I’d like you to become the personal guard of my wife, I’ve been told she’s a good fighter but I’d feel much better knowing one of my most trusted subordinates had her back if needs be.”

 

Being called a most trusted subordinate and being given the honour of a personal guard was too much for poor Randolph, after his recent failures in protecting his Lord and failure to apprehend the Strawhats he never thought he would get a second chance at proving himself. His expectations had been set low after he was spared from death, without thinking he would retain his position under Crackers command.

 

Dropping down to one knee the Homie rabbit bowed his head “Thank you, Lord Cracker. I am grateful to be kept in such high regard by you, I swear by my life I shall redeem myself and be a worthy guard to her new Ladyship.”

 

Rolling his eyes Cracker continued up the stairs, he knew Randolph had been given a Soul-Piece from some ally who was a cavalry knight and his mannerisms were much the same “Don’t mention it, I want it kept quiet until I tell her myself.” Cracker replied as he quickened his pace, jumping up Randolph was soon walking behind with a smile on his face.

 

* * *

 

“An elevator system made of candy. That’s so cool.” Rosalina muttered as she stepped inside the glossy, golden elevator.

After a peaceful and uneventful ride to the Chateau she’d been given a brief rundown of what would happen next before Katakuri left to take Dante to the infirmary, leaving her in the primary care of Oven; much to Ovens own protest.

Beckman remained stoic and quiet, refusing to comment on the fact that Big Mom lived in a gigantic cake or the fact that a candy elevator was, in the long run, an impractical idea.

 

“Your room has been prepared on the second floor, once you’re more presentable you’re going straight to the Courtyard on the third floor for Tea with Mama. Clothes are laid out and a maid is waiting to assist you, I trust you can take less than twenty minutes.” Oven huffed before pressing the button for the second floor.

 

It didn’t bother Rosalina very much that Oven didn’t like her, she wasn’t marrying him and had no plans to get on his good side. Getting along with all of the Charlotte Siblings was simply impossible; she knew this, though she did want to befriend a few for the sake of a peaceful life. Oven certainly wasn’t on that list.

 Exiting the lift at the second floor she was escorted down the long corridors until coming to a door, the number plate on the door read

 Guest Room 015

 

“Get in there and make yourself presentable for the Queen of Totto Land and don’t have me to come in there.” The large man ordered, swinging open the door Rosalina was more or less forced into the room, which earned him one hell of an icy glare from Beckman and annoyed grown from Rosalina “Alright, alright! You don’t have to be so pushy, you’re worse than both Beckman and dad combined.” Rosalina snapped back, growing tired of the orders and snarky tone she’d been met with.

 

With the door slamming behind her she sighed and began looking around the room.

 

A young woman in a maids outfit stood by the bed, her head bowed and a soft smile on her face, Rosalina never had any maids or servants to wait on her. Sure, the crew had taken care of her but never had they gone so far as to treat her like she was somehow better than them for simply being born to their captain.

 

Remembering that time was short she set to preparing. She wasn’t happy about this arrangement but knew she had to make a good impression on Big Mom, it would reflect badly on her father if she was to be seen as ungrateful or rude towards her host

 

Going to the bed she looked at the outfit chosen for her, scrunching her nose, the outfit certainly wasn’t something she would normally wear but it did have an appeal.  A light blue dress had been laid out on the bed, adorned with patterns of red tulips Rosalina had to admit it was a charming dress.

 

Picking the garment off the bed she held it to herself, it was off-shoulder and barely stretched to her knees.

A dressing table with a mirror and chair was set by the window, lined with make-up, perfumes and hair accessories it fit well with the cheerful and fancy attire of the room.

“Hay, what’s your name?” Rosalina asked, turning her attention to the young maid by the bed she decided it was worth getting to know the staff.

The young woman looked up with a smile, a cheerful smile was painted on her face and blue eyes full of delight “My name is Polly, Ma’am. How may I assist you?” The woman asked.

 

Thankful for the polite attitude she’d been met with Rosalina threw off her jacket and quickly began undressing. There was no time for awkwardness or shyness, she’d gotten changed in front of the other ladies aboard Red Force so many times it hardly made sense to be shy at this point.

 

Thankful that assistance had been offered Rosalina kicked her shoes off and glanced around the room “I need to be ready in less than twenty minutes. Just zip this dress up once I get it on and help me with my hair.” Focusing now on her limited time it wasn’t long before Rosalina was slipping into the chosen dress.

 

She’d never been more thankful for removable bra straps in her life.

 

The dress size was a perfect fit for her and once zipped up it was a comfortable and snug fit. Sitting down at the vanity table she was surprised at the amount of makeup she was met with.

Once again Rosalina was grateful for the teachings of her crew, the female members of the crew had made certain she knew how makeup worked and what looks worked best for her; she made a mental note to thank them once they arrived for the wedding.

 

“Mama wants your hair styled a specific way for the Tea Time, I’m sure you’ll love it.” Polly spoke softly as she picked the hairbrush up from the table, it didn’t surprise Rosalina that something else had been chosen for her on her behalf.

 

The dress was nice and she had never been too fussy about her hair, it reached down to her lower back but the most she’d ever do with it was put it in a ponytail or a messy bun “Oh, sure, do whatever you need to. I gotta fix my face anyway.” She muttered back.

 

Not one to wear a lot of makeup she kept to simple and light colours. A bit of soft pink eye-shadow and a nice shade of pink for lipstick was all she needed but this time she needed extra help, it wouldn’t look good showing up without making an effort.

 

Applying eyeliner and a bit of mascara she grabbed a nice glossy coating to keep her lipstick from smudging during Tea Time

As the nice maid brushed and began styling her hair Rosalina couldn’t help but feel bittersweet about it, no one had brushed her hair for her since her mother passed away, it felt so strange having someone do it again after so long.

 

Once finished Rosalina looked at herself in the mirror, she knew if the rest of the crew saw her in a pretty dress, makeup and with a nice hairdo they’d never let her live it down.

An up do with side ponytail had been something she never tried before, seeing it on her there was nothing she could complain about.

 

So far she couldn’t flaw one thing Big Mom had prepared for her. The voyage had been pleasant, the welcome had been warm and friendly, the room was luxurious, the dress was delightful and even the hairdo decided for her was nice.

Getting up from the chair the young pirate grabbed the shoes she’d been given with the outfit, a small pair of heeled pumps, thankfully the heels were low, Rosalina slipped them on before going to the full length mirror in the corner of the room.

Looking herself she couldn’t help but frown, seeing her reflection it didn’t remind he of herself at all. Too well dressed and not enough layers for her liking.

“Thanks for helping me get ready, I really appreciate it. See ya round, Polly.” She waved before heading out the door.

 

* * *

 

 

Cracker was nervous, more nervous now than he’d ever been before. The table was laid out with an assortment of baked treats and teas, his mother had been insistent to have Rosalinas favourite cakes and Crackers favourite teas for this meeting.

 

Big Mom, however, was not nervous at all, she was quite excited to meet the daughter of Red Hair Shanks, even more so when she remembered the girl would soon be her daughter-in-law. She thought how clever a plan it had been, dealing with the chaos and turmoil that Strawhats caused seemed like a small sacrifice to having another Yonko on her side.

 

“Now, when she arrives what are you to do, Cracker?” She asked sipping on her tea, staring down at her fidgeting son, as annoying as it was to watch Cracker shifting in his seat and looking to the door every few minutes she knew it was well worth it.

 

“I stand to greet my bride, I introduce myself and welcome her to Tea Time, and then I pull out her chair and try to be nice.” Cracker replied, his mother had been painfully specific in what he should and shouldn’t say during this meeting.

 

As much as Linlin took pride in her children Cracker was one of the softer ones, a loyal and driven with a Devil Fruit ability he had perfected for a fight she did consider it a shame that he’d turned out less bloodthirsty than others of his strength, still, he was useful to make a new alliance.

 

Nodding her head Big Mom smiled, sometimes that softness did work in her favor, for now it might just have Cracker working twice as hard to prove his usefulness “Good boy, Cracker. I trust you won’t waste this chance and fuck it up, you have a wife to consider now.” The matriarch reminded him.

 

“Y-yes, Mama. I’m grateful for being given another chance, I promise I’ll do better from now on.” His voice lowered to a whisper as he spoke, no doubt his mother would do to Rosalina what she had done to him if he was to fail like he had against Strawhat.

 

Before Big Mom could speak again a knock came on the door, grinning with delight she couldn’t wait to see how Tea Time went.

Oven was the first to enter the room “Mother, I’ve brought the girl. May I present, the daughter of Yonko Shanks, Miss Rosalina.” Ushering her into the room Oven more or less pushed her along.

 

Almost immediately Cracker got up from his chair, nervously he turned to finally see his bride-to-be, half expecting to wake up and half expecting this to be some cruel joke his eyes slowly fell on her.

 

Seeing her in person was much better than any amount of pictures. His first thought was how pretty she looked in that outfit, the dress did bring out her eyes and show off her hair nicely.

Her hair, her eyes, her smile and even her scars looked beautiful. Cracker was shocked at the realization that **_he_** was the one getting to marry such a lovely looking young woman, to Cracker it seemed almost unfair. A beautiful young girl with a Yonko for a father being forced to marry a disgraced Sweet Commander, yet, when they spoke earlier she held no resentment towards him for this arrangement, she’d been quite understanding.

 

“It is an honour to meet you, Your Majesty, thank you for welcoming me into your home.” Rosalina spoke softly as she bowed to the Queen of Totto Land, pirate or not Big Mom was still entitled to respect simply for governing such a large and diverse kingdom for so long, that and it was probably best to remain on her good side.

 

Big Mom hadn’t expected the girl to be courteous or kind given the circumstances, she’d expected to be met with a sour-faced child full of resentment at the prospects of being married, though being met with politeness could work in her favour.

 

With a massive grin Big Mom let out a loud laugh “Mamamama~ what a polite girl you are! Oh don’t stand on ceremony, my dear child. We’re going to be family soon, so you call me Mama.” She cooed, somewhat glad the girl wasn’t putting up a fight or causing any problems.

 

 

Still, Cracker stood and stared at her, remembering what was expected of him he slowly moved forward “Hi there. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Rosalina. I’m Charlotte Cracker, your future husband.” Greeting her as politely as he could Cracker took her by the hand and led her to the table.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you too, Cracker. I look forward to spending time with you before the wedding.” Sitting down as the chair was pulled out it wasn’t long before Beckman took the seat next to her.

In his opinion this whole thing was just a worthless ruse to that served to further torment his captain and Rosalina, forcing her into marriage was bad enough but to try forcing the pair together was cruel. But, he would remain faithful to his promise, he would make sure Rosalina was safe and find out what he could on the Charlotte Family.

 

As Oven took his leave joyful singing and dancing soon filled the Courtyard as the tableware and food came to life, singing and dancing they greeted the engaged couple and sang a happy song about how fun the wedding would be.

Rosalina and Beckman were equally unsettled by the sudden song and dance they were witness to, now, she understood well, Beckman had been right about furniture and foods not speaking. Having a cupcake tell her about how delicious it was made her question how ethical it would be to eat the thing.

 

It wasn’t until the little musical ended that the jars of tea started asking which she wanted more, dancing in a circle they changed softly

“Black tea~ Hibiscus and rose tea~ Green tea~ who shall you choose, oh who shall you choose?”

“I- uh.. I’ll take hibiscus and rose, please.” Pointing to the pink container she looked at the array of foods available at the table, in the centre there was a large chocolate cake, thankfully it didn’t seem to be alive at all, on the table it was the only non-sentient food available.

 

Watching nervously as the little container poured tea  into the grinning teapot her gaze slowly went to Cracker. The poor man was fidgeting in his seat and nervously glancing around the table, Rosalina could hardly blame him. Beckman had been giving him glares since he sat down and his mother would scowl at him every now and again.

 

Rosalina couldn’t help but pity her future husband, from what little she’d heard from the Strawhats it was clear Big Mom saw her children as no more than political pawns and powerful fighters. She’d had endless amounts of love and encouragement through her life and had rarely seen a severe punishment.

 

At this point she felt Cracker was getting the worst of this deal.  He’d been suffering for weeks on end and was now expected to make a marriage work well.

Thankfully Big Mom was in control of the conversations for the most part. She asked how the voyage was and how well she had been treated by her children. Rosalina had no complaints to make about either, she’d been allowed to do as she wished for the most part and hadn’t a bad word to say about her treatment from Galette or Katakuri, though, Oven was a completely different story.

 

Satisfied that there were no complaints Big Mom insisted the girl try some of the chocolate cake that Head Chef Streusen had prepared for her, Rosalina was happy to accept a cake that didn’t speak back to her but was still wary of the Matriarchs kind attitude.

 

To her surprise the cake was delicious, feeling bad for thinking it Rosalina couldn’t help but admit to herself, how it tasted better than anything else she’d eaten, she didn’t want to make comment and end up hurting Lucky Roos feelings if he ever found out.

 

“If you think that’s good just wait until your wedding day, my dear. Your wedding cake is going to be so sublime, I guarantee it’ll be the best you ever tasted, such delicious wedding cake we shall have.” Big Mom cackled, it amused her to watch the girl, kept hidden from the world and sheltered under the protection of her father it was surprising indeed that she’d so willingly accepted the proposal.

 

Watching in silence as they ate Big Mom noticed the sly glanced and smiled shared between Rosalina and Cracker, perhaps the two did like each other already, perhaps her other children were giving their brother a little extra information to help ease into the marriage.

 

Either way, Linlin preferred her children to have tolerable or happy marriages over indifference or hateful ones; though she was not opposed to causing trouble here or there to test the strength of it or where loyalties laid .

 

Deciding it best to leave them be for now Big Mom continued to eat and talk about how joyous it was that after the recent troubles there was going to be festivities once again.

There were some details of the wedding Big Mom wanted to keep a surprise but she was happy to divulge a few things to the bride and groom.

 

Every child of the Charlotte family was to be in attendance, there were ample extra seats for any allies or old friends Shanks brought along and all guests from Rosalinas side would be granted one week of accommodation within the Chateau.

Rosalina didn’t doubt her father would be bringing some extra guests along, if not those who were as good as family then some extra muscle in case of trouble. She could think of two or three non-crew members who would definitely make an appearance and that gladdened her.

 

Before Rosalina could thank Big Mom the large woman was already getting up from her seat “I have some business to attend to so I’ll be off. But, you two stay and have more delicious cake~ I’ll have something special sent down from the kitchen so do stay put. I’ll be speaking to you both later.” Waving her hand as she left it wasn’t soon enough until the door was closing behind her.

 

All three at the table breathed a heavy sigh of relief and sat back in their chairs, everyone besides Big Mom had been nervous and on edge the entire time.

 

Beckman had no nice things to say so had opted to keep his mouth shut.

 

Cracker was fearful of saying something wrong in front of his mother.

 

Rosalina hadn’t wanted to speak out of turn and cause an issue.

 

“Fuck this, I need a smoke. Behave until I get back.” Beckman grunted getting up, looking around he spotted a door to a balcony, a few minutes of peace was much needed after sitting tense with nothing but unpleasant thoughts in his head for the whole meeting.

 

Cracker breathed another sigh of relief as Beckman stepped onto the balcony and closed the door behind him _‘Finally, I didn’t think I’d survive both of them glaring at me_ ’ he thought to himself.

 

His attention then focused on her, his bride, now he could freely look at her without the nagging fear of being shot or scolded.

Unable to help himself, he sat staring at her for a good minute.

“So, I guess we should use our time wisely. Is there anything you’d like to know about me, Cracker?” Pulled from his blank thoughts Cracker nodded quickly.

There was so much he wanted to know, he didn’t know much about her and he needed every bit of information he could for his dates.

With her elbows resting on the table and her chin in her hands Rosalina smiled softly, in truth Cracker wasn’t at all what she’d expected.

He was tall, more muscular than she’d expected, the hair was a surprise but it did have its charms. Certainly something that made him stand out from the rest of his siblings, Rosalina couldn’t help but admire him a little.

“Uhm.. I guess.. I mean.. I wanna know everything about you and I suppose it’s the same for you.” He shrugged as he crossed his arms, trying to play it cool was an easy fall-back strategy for him.

 

“Favourite colour, favourite food, favourite flower, favourite kinds books.. Just, you know, the little things.” He specified.

 

Humming as she thought Rosalina pursed her lips “Green, sea king mince with gravy and onions, lollipop lilies and I love to read but my favourite is good murder mystery.. What about yours?” She answered, listing each off on her fingers as she tilted her head to one side.

 

Beginning to feel more at ease Cracker was quick to give his answers “Purple, jam, umh.. I dunno, like, daisies. I kinda like books with a lot of murder.” He really didn’t know anything about flowers or much about books, neither had been of interest to him growing up, though he did enjoy some of Mont-d'Or special books.

 

It didn’t come as a surprise that he enjoyed books about murder, from what little she knew it was safe to assume he’d committed a few in his time. By his own hand or with his Devil fruit she was curious as to how he liked to kill, it did tell a lot about a person, their preferred methods of killing.

“When you kill someone, do you do it yourself or with your devil fruit?” Without thinking on it she asked the question.

Catching Cracker off guard he almost dropped his cup, he didn’t expect murder to be a topic while having tea, even if she was a pirate and Yonkos child she didn’t seem the type to be interested in straight up murder.

 

‘ _It was bound to come up eventually, if not from me then from someone else. She’s probably killed a few people herself anyways’_

“Depends, I tend to operate from within a Biscuit Warrior. It’s easier and my true identity is concealed. I guess I kill using a mix of both but sometimes I do it with my sword. What about you, how do you kill, if you’ve ever killed before that is?” Gesturing to the large sword Cracker eyed her curiously.

Surely she must’ve killed at least once in her past. She _was_ a pirate after all.

Yes, Rosalina had killed in the past, always out of necessity she was raised to see killing as a fact of life. To survive you must sometimes take the life of another, if her life was threatened then she felt little remorse for her actions.

 

“Not often but I have killed before. Only when my life was threatened, I do prefer to incapacitate or injure if I can. Preferably I go for weak points, a clean cut of an artery guarantees a quick death, messy, but I’m not chancing being hit back.”

 

To kill was something Cracker learned at a young age, now it was no different to uprooting a weed in a garden, it was at ask that simply had to be done. Being a Sweet Commander meant he pulled weeds frequently on his Mamas orders.

 

Nervously, Cracker reached over and placed his hand on her shoulder, he didn’t know what her life had been like before, or any circumstanced surrounding her killings. It was the look on her face that told him it wasn’t something she made a habit of.

Now his idea to have Randolph as a person guard sounded almost perfect to him “If they attacked you then they had it coming. I doubt they’d live much longer if your father found out anyways.” With a smirk on his face it was clear to Cracker this girl wasn’t a cold blooded killer, more a peacemaker than anything else.

 

And for that he was grateful, grateful to end up marrying someone who wasn’t a cold hearted murderess or a docile weakling. Someone he had a chance of getting along with was the best he could have hoped for, and from his point of view it was the best.

 

Finding some comfort in his words Rosalina chuckled, from where she was sitting it was fair to assume a political marriage was something they could both live comfortably with. She didn’t expect anything from a romance novel or a fairy-tale love story of any kind.

 

Then again, it was worth a shot by trying, neither had anything to lose simply by attempting a relationship. For the situation they were facing it was reasonable to at least like one another.


	6. Late Night Chat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this has taken so long to upload. Real life has caused me to lose a lot of time I'd usually spend writing.  
> But, fear not, I will write and upload when I can (I will hopefully get more time in the future because I've another work-in Progress I want to dish out)
> 
> Hope you all like this chapter.  
> Kudos, comment, all that stuff.   
> Thanks for reading~

For Cracker, it’d been a rollercoaster of a day.

Not only had he met his future wife but he’d gotten off to a good start with her too. Which was far more than he’d expected since it was a political based marriage that his mother had arranged.

Lying awake he couldn’t wipe the massive grin off his face, today had already been such a success for him. He was recovering well, had met his future wife, he’d gotten off to a good start with her too.

Cracker knew he was being blindly optimistic about this, he knew it could all turn to crap in an instant if Shanks or one of his friends decided they weren’t on board with the arrangement anymore.

As much as he did like Rosalina, she could be taken away by his mother too, if he was suddenly deemed an unfit groom he was easily replaced with another sibling, one who Mama considered more suitable for such an honour.

He’d tried his best to impress her at Tea Time, after a good two hours spent in the Courtyard getting acquainted they had been allowed to leave. Cracker had given her a tour of the Chateau after that, starting from the first floor Library he took her to the most note-worthy places within the Chateau.

Sadly, neither had been permitted to enter the rooftop area, not until the day of the wedding, which caused some annoyance for Cracker as he’d intended to show her the view at the end of the little tour.

But, it had been a wonderful day none the less. Cracker was somewhat glad he’d lost to Luffy, if he’d have won then he may never have ended up engaged.

 

All the thoughts running through his head did nothing to help him sleep.

It was still early, not even ten, as tired as he felt Cracker found himself unable to get to sleep.

 If it were up to him he’d be taking Rosalina out to see how the surrounding oceans would freeze solid at night, which was always amazing to newcomers.

Sitting up Cracker decided he’d go pay her a visit. There was still much for them to discuss and his mother hadn’t set a curfew for either of them, the only reason they’d said goodnight was due to Beckman nagging her to go contact her father and tell the crew she was alive.

Getting out of the bed Cracker grabbed a little den-den Moshi off the desk, he didn’t want to risk dealing with Beckman or his accusatory tone again tonight, if he wanted to see Rosalina he need to be discreet. He didn’t exactly fear Beckman but it wouldn’t look good being caught sneaking into Rosalinas room after dark.

His first attempt at a call went unanswered, as did his second attempt.

 Persistent as he was it wasn’t until his fourth try was the receiver actually picked up.

 “Cracker, I swear to god if you aren’t dying you soon fucking will be! What the hell is wrong?” The shrill voice snapped almost as soon as the call was answered.

He knew his sister would still be awake at this hour, she was a night owl at heart and she was the only one who could give assistance with this. Hearing mutterings and huffs in the background Cracker knew he’d disturbed _something_ for his sister. Something he’d definitely owe a favor for ruining.

“Sorry, sorry. I’ll make it up to you, I promise, I just need you to let me pass through the Mirro-world. I gotta talk to Rosalina about something.” He apologised and explained, Bruleè was the only one who knew of the earlier meeting and was currently the only one who could help him.

With more muttering and irritated voices from the other end Cracker could easily discern Diesels voice in the background, he knew then he should have taken the hint of being ignored in the first two times.

“I will open the Mirro World and keep it open for _you_ and _you_ alone. Find her yourself and then find your own way back.” Bruleè sighed and grumbled to herself.

Now Cracker felt a little bad for calling in the first place, at least his sister was agreeing to help him on this, he’d be sure to repay the favour when he had the chance “There! Now don’t call me again tonight or I’ll cut all your damn hair off!” She huffed before hanging up, she had no desire to listen to Crackers ‘thank yous’ and grateful words.

 

Getting up from the table he pulled on his pants and left the room via the large mirror on the wall. Stepping into the Mirro-world he took in his surroundings, he’d done enough wandering around to know which parts of the Chateau were kept in clusters and which were far apart.

Thankfully the guest rooms were all kept in a neat section of their own where they were lined up accordingly; much to Bruleès disapproval it had been Katakuri himself who demanded they not be scattered and placed haphazardly, it ruined the whimsical charm she’d put so much effort into.

 

After the short walk Cracker counted down to the fifteenth mirror, finding the full length accessory had stayed facing the bed just as it had been so carefully placed, a smile came to his face.

Through the mirror he could see Rosalina sat on the bed dressed in pyjama shorts and a purple tank top. In front of her was a den-den Moshi, one of the larger ones, leading Cracker to believe this was her own one for main communications.

In one hand she held the receiver and in the other she rested her head, the smile soon fell from Crackers face as he heard a low sob, watching as she lifted her head he was ready to go beat the ass of whoever had caused her to cry in the first place.

“I’m fine, honestly, I’m perfectly okay. A little worn out but I’m good, dad.” She sniffled as she rubbed her teary eyes.

Cracker then realised she’d started crying when talking to Shanks, or, had called him because she’d started crying. Either way, her crying certainly wasn’t a good thing for him, not if Mama found out.

“Then why are you crying, sweetie? Have you been threatened, or hurt, are you marrying someone nasty, is he someone who’d hurt you? Just say the word and I-“ Shanks began to speak, his tone was worrisome and frantic, that much was clear to Cracker.

“Please, relax. I’m a bit tired after today, it really took a lot outta me. It’s been a long day and I just wanted to make sure Red Force is still floating. ” Rosalina interrupted with an embarrassed chuckle.

She hadn’t been crying before she made the call, it was the hysteric and joyous cries of her crew that had put her to tears. Worried voices asking how she was, weeping in the back as she was confirmed to be safe, the muffled yelling reassuring those further away that all was going well.  Their kind words and grateful tones had been enough to cause her tears.

Rosalina knew she was sorely missed by the crew, that much had been made clear from what little a conversation they had before Shanks kicked them out of his study, wanting to speak more to her without any of the crew listening in.

“You still didn’t answer me. What kind of man are you marrying, what is he like, is he the kind of man who’d hurt you?” Shanks repeated, he knew there wasn’t much he could do but he could listen and give a sympathetic ear.

When she fell silent it was cause for concern, Cracker hadn’t stopped to think about her feelings towards him in all this. He knew it was selfish of him to go ahead assuming she would reciprocate his feelings; after all he was a total stranger to her.

Wondering if he’d come on too strongly during the day he sat down beside the mirror and continued to listen.

Now he’d discover how she truly saw him, a knot formed in his stomach as she remained silent still.

_‘What if I’m a disappointment to her, what if she expected someone better and got stuck with the failure child?’_ Cracker thought to himself, he knew he could be arrogant and cocky at times, Cracker had been made well aware of his flaws in recent weeks, had Rosalina taken a dislike to them too?

Peeking through the mirror he continued to watch as a smile soon graced her face “I like him.” She sighed in a low tone “I like him, so, that means he’s the kinda guy you’d disapprove of and chase away.”

 

She **_liked_ ** him? That was enough to make Cracker laugh with delight, it was music to his ears to hear her say those words, despite his awkwardness and general behaviour today he _did_ make a good impression on her.

 

“How do you know I’d disapprove? Despite his family I may find him an agreeable son-in-law. Oh god I need a drink just for saying that.” Shanks scoffed choking on his last few words, still greatly uncomfortable with the idea of this marriage but content enough to let his daughter make her own decisions in life; Shanks knew he couldn’t take the moral high ground considering decisions made in his youth.

Rosalina furrowed her brow and shook her head “You always disapprove and this will be no exception, so no matter what I say you’ll find flaws; it’s like your special dad-power.”

Her response was met with mumbling and grumbling, Shanks could never help himself, it was a natural reaction for him as a father, to find all flaws in the men who came close to her, he would always refer to it as his built in daughter-protection radar.

Still, Shanks didn’t deny her claims in the least, knowing it was habitual for him to list each and every thing he found wrong with the men. Rosalinas facial expression softened, she couldn’t blame her father for his protective nature, and he’d never change even if she wanted him to.

There was no way to make Shanks approve of this, not without meeting the man in question and not without letting the entire crew cross-examine the poor guy.

It wasn’t as if that was an option given the circumstances anyway, Rosalina knew that was probably what was hurting her father most, the fact that she was marrying a stranger and he couldn’t even make a few light threats before the wedding day

“I know you worried but I’m fine. I’m being treated well and Beckman is right across the hall if I need him, if there’s trouble we’ll let you know.” Reassurance was about the only thing she could confidently give at this time, purposely leaving out the parts where Charlotte Oven had been less than pleasant towards her, that would just worry the crew more.

Shanks continued to question how the voyage went and how well she’d been treated, he held little trust in regard to Katakuri, and after all that Luffy had told him, it had been unnerving entrusting his daughter to the terrifying man.

After more reassurance that she had been treated well Shanks was satisfied to stop pestering her, settling for saying goodnight and exchanging ‘I love yous’ they ended the call, more so Shanks could start blubbering without his daughter berating him again.

..

Now Cracker was in two minds, should he go back to his room and leave her be, or go in and try to make her smile?

Knocking softly on the mirrors frame he gave it a few seconds before stepping through it “It’s just me, I wanted to talk to you again.” He spoke in a hushed tone, once through the mirror he saw the shock and confusion on the poor girls face.

With no explanations or warnings Cracker had suddenly come out of a mirror and started speaking to her, Rosalina had been made aware of the ‘mirror witch’ but the thought hadn’t crossed her mind that the mirrors were something used without Big Moms permission.

Staring for a few seconds she nodded, she’d seen enough strange, yet enchanting things already today but this was a bit hard to comprehend “Right, the mirrors here are weird and shit.” She nodded to herself.

Despite the eerie mirror portals her bigger concern was Cracker being in her room, though Big Mom had encouraged them to spend as much time together as possible before the wedding, something both were grateful for.

Rosalina was more than happy to indulge him in a conversation, after all he’d been nothing but kind thus far and there was no reason to believe he had ill intention. That and she was slowly becoming fond of him.

Patting the bed she sat back against the plush pillows and smiled, her only main concern at the moment was if Beckman decided to come by unannounced, he’d been tolerant thus far but finding Cracker here after dark would most likely be the final straw.

“Alright but we should keep quiet, Beckman would kill us both if he found out you came here.” In a hushed tone the girl grinned and gestured to the door.

The thought of being discovered hadn’t crossed Crackers mind, his siblings wouldn’t mind but Beckman would sure as hell find fault with it.

As strong and arrogant as Cracker was he certainly wasn’t willing to start a fight with the right hand man of another Yonko, not with the reputation he had and not with the impending wedding.

Sitting on the edge of the bed Cracker huffed as he shook his head “I wanted to make sure you’re okay after today, I mean, you probably had a boyfriend or something already and now you’re stuck with me, I’m hardly worthy husband for you.”  Cracker would be lying if he said he wasn’t halfway pleased with his end of this deal, he got a second chance and a beautiful wife from this, but, he’d begun questioning what she’d get from the marriage.

Obviously the islands under her fathers’ protection would be safe and his territories would not be invaded, she’d had no choice but to accept the deal and play her part in all of this. For all Cracker had known the girl could have already been engaged!

It wasn’t until Rosalina snorted and started laughing that he stopped his train of thought “A boyfriend? I haven’t had one of them in a while, my father has kept me busy specifically to avoid me having another romance.” Leaning forward she touched his arm “Honestly, Cracker, from what I’ve seen you’re definitely the kinda guy I’d date under normal circumstances.”

Hearing that she’d been single and he was datable to her put a cocky grin on his face. Knowing he wasn’t ruining an existing relationship was a relief to him, the fact that he was her type of guy only encouraged him to try romancing her even more. It was a sorely needed boost for his ego.

 

“Well I’ll have to up my game for tomorrow, I can’t disappoint you after you’ve said that.” Now he didn’t feel bad in the slightest for all he had planned, now he had a reason to try impress her.

For Rosalina, it’d been so long since anyone had tried to get close to her, after her last break up the entire crew had gone into overdrive with scaring away potential boyfriends. It was almost ironic that after all their hard work she was to marry someone they’d never even met.

She was curious to know what Cracker had planned for tomorrow; she hadn’t expected anything past having tea and wandering the chateau.

After that Cracker had excitedly begun talking about Biscuits Island, reassuring her that it was a lovely place filled with just as much wondrous stuff as Whole Cake, except there was a mass abundance of biscuit based things instead of cakes.

Jam ponds, jammy dodger ridges, Pink Wafer cliffs and Monaka Mountain, everything Cracker described about his island fascinated her more and more. It sounded more like something from a storybook her mother used to read than a place she would soon call home.

Listening intently Rosalina soon found herself with a pillow in her arms lying down next to Cracker, he spoke so proudly of Biscuits Island, boasting about how well maintained it was and how there would be a big welcome celebration when Cracker returned.

All the while he explained everything, it was hard for her not to smile fondly, he was so proud of his achievements as a Minister, boastful about also being a Sweet Commander and what that meant in terms of ranking in the crew.

Of course Rosalina would interject to ask questions and to get further explanation, she had so little time to learn about Biscuits Island and wanted to avoid any embarrassing mess-ups upon arrival.

Cracker was soon speaking about the events on Biscuits Island from just a few weeks ago, noticing that his cocky grin was slowly forming into grimace.

Katakuri had made it crystal clear that Cracker should not be speaking about the events leading up to the Vinsmoke wedding or what happened before her arrival, he had given a firm warning that it was too soon for Cracker to discuss such events and they should be avoided at all costs.

 

 

“Hay, so, how come your bounty poster isn’t actually you?” She interrupted, cutting him off mid-sentence “It has the same scar you do but it’s not you.” Her curiosity over the incorrect bounty poster had been growing, though the opportunity to ask hadn’t arisen.

That question sparked a whole new culmination of ramblings and excitedly explained details. To her surprise it had been Perospero who gave Cracker his devil fruit when he was barely a teenager and how he came to inhabit his Biscuit Armour in battle as a precaution.

A precaution his elder brother, Oven, had insisted upon relentlessly.

The Biscuit Armour he wore had been perfected to trick and deceive his opponents as well as keep him safe to create more Biscuit Warriors in a heated battle. Once again Rosalina listened intently, how joyously Cracker spoke of his abilities and how that simple mix up with a bounty poster had slowly given him his own identity within the Charlotte family.

Though, his expression and tone changed when speaking of Opera and Moscato, a sad smile graced his face as he spoke fondly of his deceased brothers. All Rosalina knew was that both had died recently, whatever circumstances surrounded their deaths were a mystery to her. Though, there was much debate outside of Totto Land as to what happened to the pair.

Some said they were killed by Strawhat Luffy in the heat of the initial attack, or that one of the Vinsmokes had killed Moscato shortly after their arrival and that was what sparked the assassination plans. There were even rumours surfacing that it had been Pudding and Chiffon who’d murdered their siblings in attempts to escape Totto Land.

“I- I guess I should feel lucky things weren’t worse, I mean, I’m no expert but I’ve seen enough marriages to know what _not_ to do.” Cracker chuckled, only thanks to interference and unwanted advice from others had certain marriages succeeded, something many siblings were grateful for.

Katakuri and Dante were a brilliant example of how a siblings interference had worked out for the better. Without that and all the unwanted advice it was likely that marriage would have ended in tragedy.

“Just, kinda wish Moscato was around, fuck knows he’d liven things up.”

Sitting up Rosalina leaned against his arm; she had no idea what it was like to lose a sibling, crew members’ yes, but never a beloved sibling. She chalked that up to never having any siblings in the first place.

But, if it was anything like the loss of a crew member she knew how deeply that could cut into someone, the gut wrenching and heart-breaking reality of losing someone beloved was almost indescribable.

To feel her so close to him was almost enough to make the Sweet Commander melt, he’d been so starved for any sort of affection, any sort of closeness or kind touch from her made his heart skip a beat.  It’d been so long since anyone outside his own family cared to comfort him like such.

With some hesitation Cracker moved his arms around her and slowly pulled her onto his lap, he wanted to comfort her but he also wanted to feel comforted too.

There was no protest made when she was being shifted, it wasn’t cause for concern when she was being moved so gently and with such ease, if there was any ill intention by it then she’d be aware by now.

A good hug was something that Rosalina was in need of, both were in the same situation, it was easy for them to understand each other’s concerns over this.

Once seated on his lap she rested her head against his chest, with his arms wrapped around her there was little else she could do but relax in his grip.

“Oh, you don’t mind, do you?” Cracker muttered, concerned that he may have overstepped a boundary.

Shaking her head Rosalina smiled at him “Nah, it’s nice. Besides, we’ll be married soon, no one will begrudge us a cuddle.” With just a few days until the wedding Rosalina was prepared to take every opportunity she could to figure him out.

Cracker may have been the kind of guy she’d try dating but there was a great difference between a few dates, a relationship, and then a lifelong commitment. All she had to do was remind herself that she must find peace with the situation, that it could be so much worse for her, she had to try before resigning to an unhappy life.

After a few minutes Cracker sighed, unwrapping his arms from her he frowned “I should go, the guards will pass by and check on you soon. If Bobbin caught me here he’d make a big deal out of it, he gives you trouble just pull a gun and shoot, that’ll sort him.”

Scooting off his lap Rosalina crawled onto the bed and sat down, she’d thoroughly enjoyed Crackers visit, learning more about him and where she’d be living soon had lifted her spirits.

As Cracker got up and began walking towards the mirror she stood up on the bed “Hay, hold on a second.” Reaching out she grabbed Crackers arm before he moved too far.

Turning around Cracker raised an eyebrow, it was already getting late and he knew Bobbin was on duty tonight.

As beaten, battered and shot as the Bishop had been when tossed into the ocean, he had survived the ordeal. Vito had carelessly assumed that his sleep hypnosis was a result of devil fruit ability, surmising that Bobbin would simply drown and that would finish the job.

Given the fact that he and Bobbin never really got along Cracker had no desire to run into the little sadist tonight, or any other night for that matter.

“U-umh.. Thanks for keeping me company tonight. And.. Cracker, I consider myself lucky to be marrying you, you’re worth far more than you think and I’ll be proud to call you my husband.” Murmuring nervously she leaned forward onto his arm, even with the additional height of standing on the bed Cracker was still a bit taller.

Cracker couldn’t bring himself to take another step after she spoke.

All he’d ever hoped for was to be good enough in the eyes of those around him, good enough to make them proud. All Cracker had wanted since he was a young boy was to be worthy of praise. To show his worth within the Charlotte family.

So rarely had he been considered ‘good enough’, the only reason he was given the honour of Minister and Sweet Commander was due to Katakuri taking him along on so many missions and speaking about the potential he had.

But now, now there was someone openly saying he was ‘good enough’, someone was saying he was worth marrying! There was someone who would proudly call him their husband!

He didn’t know how he’d managed to make that happen but whatever it was, he would continue doing it.

Turning back to her Cracker smiled, it wasn’t often that he felt the need to show his softer side, he was encouraged not to show softness or weakness as a Minister and Sweet Commander.

Moving closer, inch by inch, he removed the gap between them.  Even with the added height from Rosalina standing on the bed she barely reached his shoulders.

Her hand reached up to stroke the side of his face. Standing on her tip-toes she leaned in closer to him, the new height giving her a better angle to admire his facial features from.

His scar, his eyes, his smile, she admired it all. After a moment his face turned to one of confusion, Rosalina had been standing there, stroking his face and smiling.

_‘Is this normal? Should I do something, say something? I probably should’_ Cracker thought to himself, having his own internal debate on what exactly to do was cut short when he felt something new.

Her lips, pressed to his. It had been a snap decision on her part, she’d wanted to do it earlier, after their conversation before Tea Time, but that hadn’t been an option.

Now, after all he’d told her and his attempts to make this all easier for her she couldn’t let him go without something to show her appreciation.

She hadn’t wanted their first kiss to be at the altar, nor did she know if they’d be alone again before the wedding.

Pulling back after a few seconds Rosalina couldn’t help but smirk “Can’t let you go before I say thanks for today, it’d be rude.. And I kinda wanted to do that since this morning.”

 Cracker, however, just stood there with a grin on his face. He hadn’t thought to try kiss her yet, he didn’t want to risk getting slapped by her and then berated by Katakuri for overstepping a boundary, and lord knew he’d pay for that kind of mistake.

Her words and kiss were all Cracker needed to confirm he hadn’t failed yet.

Despite all the well wishes from siblings he knew full well some brothers hoped he’d fuck it up, just so they could have the opportunity of being the groom.

His grin soon turned smug and cocky. Yes, Cracker loved his siblings but he sure couldn’t wait to rub it in their faces that he was far from failing “Then I don’t feel so bad for what I have planned tomorrow. Maybe if you like it I’ll get a few more kisses?” He knew it was cocky and assumptious but it had worked in his favor so far.

Shaking her head and chuckling Rosalina patted his shoulders “Maybe you will, we’ll have to wait and see.” She replied with a coy smile before taking her hands off him, of course she wasn’t going to tell him all he had to do was ask, that’d be no fun.

Moving away Cracker walked to the mirror, he didn’t want to push his luck and his face was already turning a dark shade of pink “So, uh, I’ll meet you sometime in the morning, around eleven-ish. At the bottom of the stairs on the first floor, uh, by the library, wear something cute and bring a weapon or two, whatever you’re best with.” Putting his hand through the mirror he sighed.

‘ _Bruleè is gonna make me pay for this, she’s probably so pissed at me for ruining her night.’_ He thought , as grateful as he was, Cracker knew he’d be paying for this.

Stepping through the mirror Cracker quickly moved away from it, his face was flush red and he was grinning like an idiot.  

It took a moment for everything to sink in; when it did Cracker was quite proud of himself. Sure, he’d had to rely on his siblings to get everything off to a good start, but he’d managed perfectly fine on his own after Tea Time, during the tour and with spending time alone with Rosalina.

He felt ridiculous for all his worrying and fretting.

His entire walk back to his mirror was spent revising his plans for tomorrow. Galette had been more than willing to relay orders and make sure everything was prepared.

Poor Galette, she needed something to keep her mind occupied until the day of the wedding. Cracker sympathised with his sister, and she’d not seen her children or husband in close to two weeks. He could only imagine her upset.

Arriving back to his room Cracker checked to make sure no one had been to visit, if anyone had stopped by and found him missing that could cause a problem, especially with all the extra guards wandering around and him virtually disappearing for almost three hours.

Thankfully, it didn’t seem as if anyone had been. He surmised that everyone was either busy or had their own plans to get on with. Though, he knew Galette would spend the night with a bottle of wine and Katakuri was probably still at the infirmary.

Knowing vaguely where the rest of his siblings could be he settled into bed and relaxed, if no one had missed him then there was no cause for concern or excuses. All he had to do was pay his debt to Bruleè and the matter was sealed.

With everything happening so quickly Cracker hadn’t taken time to really think about what it all meant, sure, he knew he was getting married so his mother could further her ambition and punish those she felt responsible. But, he hadn’t given much thought to how things would work after the wedding.

Having no prior relationships meant he was basically running around in the dark, praying he didn’t run smack into a wall. Cracker did admit that watching his siblings had given him plenty of hope, some of his mothers’ arrangements had bright outcomes.

Galette may have had a bad first marriage, ending in death and heartbreak but her second marriage was like her fairy-tale dream come true. Katakuri and Dante had a rough start and a multitude of problems but had made it all work for the better.

_‘I’ll set aside time and talk to them sometime tomorrow. If Perospero can find love and happiness then there’s hope for me.’_ He thought to himself, somewhat jealous of the joy his eldest brother had in his life.  Having to listen for a good half hour as the Candy Minister practically did cartwheels around the bedroom as he shared the news of his twelfth child being born.

Rolling over Cracker buried his face in the pillow, it was late and he didn’t want to spend any more time thinking about all that. He was hopeful he could rope Dante into helping Rosalina adjust to everything, if he could do that, then half the problem was already sorted.

~ ~

_Knock, knock, knock._

Came thudding on his door.  Groaning loudly Cracker knew exactly who it was and he was in no mood for their antics.

Without warning or permission the door creaked open, something which Cracker would put a stop to if it happened later or the next night.

“Fuck off, Bobbin. I’m trying to sleep.” Cracker snapped, making a point of refusing to look at the little Bishop as he invited himself into the room.

After getting no response Cracker reluctantly sat up, only to find Bobbin was rummaging around in the open closet.

“I’m here, I’m not dead, and you’re not needed. Leave, immediately.” Cracker gestured to the door, he didn’t want to resort to manhandling the smaller man but his patience was already wearing thin.

Bobbin reappeared and shut the closet door behind him. He was still and silent for a moment before he approached the bed, much to Crackers annoyance, still receiving the silent treatment Cracker knew this was going further than simply patrolling and checking everyone was in their rooms.

Crouching down Bobbin looked underneath the bed; it was at this point Cracker had enough.

Reaching down he grabbed Bobbin by the back of his shirt and yanked him up, holding the other man in the air Cracker scowled “Alright you little troglodyte, I’m done asking nicely so either tell me what the fuck you are doing or so help me I will finish what that snake-tongued fucker didn’t and I will drown you myself!” Cracker hissed.

Bobbins blatant refusal to respond to his superior and insubordinate actions were enough to warrant some form of punishment, Cracker was still titled a Sweet Commander and retained all power that came with it.

Holding up his hands Bobbin grinned widely “Oi, Oi, gimme a break! I’m doing my job thoroughly, making sure everything is in order and nothing is wrong. No need to get angry, Boyoyon.” He laughed as he bobbed his head from side to side.

In truth Bobbin was only supposed to check where everyone was and that nothing strange was afoot, rooting around was an extra step he took simply to irritate the Sweet Commander.

The two had been at odds for years now but lately Bobbin seemed to be getting more brazen with his comments and actions.

In the time it took to respond Cracker knew his excuse would be bullshit. He knew his patience were being tested on purpose, Bobbin was testing the waters to see how damaged Cracker was after his punishment.

“The only thing wrong is your disrespectful attitude towards your superior, Bobbin. So kindly fuck off and let me sleep in peace.” Lowering Bobbin back to the floor Cracker huffed, he’d been tempted to throw Bobbin towards the window but the thought of dealing with a shattered window was less than ideal.

Dusting himself off Bobbin looked curiously at the Sweet Commander, it surprised him that Cracker was allowed to keep his titles and was chosen for such an important marriage. Bobbin didn’t like Cracker in the least but had to respect a man with such a high bounty.

Turning and walking towards the door Bobbin shook his head “I hope your bride-to-be has less a temper, I hope she’s still awake so I can talk to her. I hear she’s a pretty one, Boyoyon.”

Glaring at the smaller man Cracker hoped Rosalina took his advice and would point a gun at the horrid man instead of entertaining his bullshit. All he needed was Bobbin going and spreading a bunch of half-truths and wrecking his good work.

Knowing that retorting to his remark would only cause a problem Cracker huffed “Whatever, if she shoots you it’s your own fault.”

Letting out a loud laugh Bobbin exited the room, closing the door slowly he giggled to himself. It always lifted his mood when he got to annoy others, almost as much as getting to burn an island.

Once Cracker was left alone he cursed Bobbin for disturbing him and laid back down “Little shit, I should kick him down some stairs.” He muttered to himself.

~

Bobbin continued on his rounds, taking the usual route he liked while on patrol duty. He looked on the Charlotte Children as he passed their rooms, saying quick hellos and checked the younger ones weren’t sneaking any snacks.

His lack of respect and rude nature had gotten him into trouble with more than one person on his round. Galette had hurled a wine bottle at him after he made a comment she took as hurtful.

“Your youngest is old enough to start talking, isn’t he? Ah, but you’ve been here a while, maybe you’ve already missed his first words. Unfortunate stuff, Boyoyon.”

Galette had thrown the bottle full force but missed by a few inches, shrieking about how she’d make him eat those glass shards if he didn’t leave immediately.

-

Next he went to check on their special guests, a stop Bobbin had been eagerly awaiting since he started his patrol; he had seen neither Beckman nor Rosalina. But the amount of gossip that’d circulated within a few hours had given him plenty to go on.

Bobbin hadn’t cared to knock on Rosalinas door but he made sure to be as quiet as he could when opening it, there was no use barging in and possibly scaring her. He wanted to get on her good side, both to annoy Cracker and to get in the good books of Shanks.

Creeping into the room he grinned to himself “Don’t mind me, just doing a security check, Boyoyon.” He whispered loudly, not loud enough for the rest of his patrol team to hear but loud enough to be heard within the room.

As their guest stirred Bobbin realized she wasn’t entirely asleep, which was good for him. He would like the chance to speak with her, preferably without her chaperone or future husband to bother him.

“You’re still awake? Must be all the excitement from today.” Bobbin asked as he began to check around the room, more to waste time than do his job.

Tired as she was Rosalina decided to humour him, she knew who Bishop Bobbin was, The Disposer of the Big Mom Pirates. Propping herself up on her elbows she could barely see in the low light of the room, just barely able to make out the small shape moving around, she shrugged to herself _‘Probably not wise to make an enemy of him’_

Slowly she nodded her head “Umh, yea, I guess, a lot did happen.” Rosalina yawned; half hoping this would be a quick and pleasant visit so she could rest.

Bobbin moved around the room a little more, pretending to inspect the windows and checking under the bed. He had to at least act as if he were actually concerned about something happening; he knew no one would dare harm Rosalina, not before she was married.

“There, all checked!” He exclaimed, walking to the side of the bed with a wide grin spread across his face “Suppose you’re missing home, huh? I know I’d be under these circumstances, that why you aren’t asleep, Boyoyon.”

Admittedly, she was missing home. It was far too silent; there was no singing, no drunken antics in the distance, not even the sound of waves. The Chateau was far too quiet a place for her to feel entirely at ease, too much silence had never been a good thing aboard Red Force.

Biting her lip she nodded “Bit too quiet for me, I’m used to a lot more background noise so coming to such a silent place is weird.” She whispered, it sounded silly to admit it out loud but it was true. There’d always been something, anything, even if it was the crashing of waves or the pounding of rain, it helped her feel at ease.

Now, Bobbin on the other hand, saw her situation as an opportunity to capitalize on. His grin grew even wider as he thought of just how he could get in her good books, using exactly this “That’s terrible, after your long day you still can’t sleep, Boyoyon.” With fake concern in his voice Bobbin paused and pretended to think for a few seconds.

“Back before I joined Big Mom I was a hypnotist. Now, you lay that pretty head down and I’ll set you to sleep for the night, Boyoyon.” Bobbin was quite proud of what he did before joining Big Mom, though these days he only ever used his hypnosis for sleep, everything else was much more fun with a sword.

It took Rosalina a moment to comply, her options were limited and she had to be rested for tomorrow. It wouldn’t do if she was in a foul mood after Cracker had worked to plan a ‘date’ for them. Lying back she rolled onto her side and burrowed down into the blanket, she didn’t trust Bobbin but doubted he’d do anything to harm her.

She’d never been under any sort of hypnosis before, it wasn’t something she’d taken an interest in either. It did interest her to know just how powerful The Disposer was; even if his kindness was an act she had to at least be grateful for his offer.

“Thank you, Bobbin. G’night then, guess I’ll see you sometime tomorrow.” She mumbled.

After a moment Bobbin began swaying from side to side, the hypnotic rays he gave off soon reached Rosalina.

Her eyelids became heavy as her body was quickly lulled into the relaxed and peaceful state. Without any resistance to his hypnosis it was very easy for Bobbin to put her to sleep, no more than a few seconds and she was out cold. Bobbin knew if he could get Rosalina to like him it would infuriate Cracker to no end.

Content with all he’d done Bobbin exited the room, making sure to close the door behind him before he went across the hall; he still had to check on Beckman.

He wasn’t too bothered about the First Mate, as grand a reputation as Benn Beckman had it was no secret how loyal he was to Shanks, there was no way he’d try something when so much was on the line.

Still, Bobbin had a job to do.

 

He had no sooner opened the door and poked his head inside and a gun was pointed to him. Blinking in surprise Bobbin couldn’t help but stare.

Beckman had been sitting in bed reading for most of the night, sleep had been evading him since they’d left Red Force, there was too much for him to worry about to get a decent night of sleep.

“Turn around, leave, stay gone. I have no desire to talk with you tonight, Bishop Bobbin.” Was all he spoke, with a pistol in one hand and his book held in the other the message was clearly conveyed.

Bobbin was confident enough to take his chances with Cracker and Galette; he knew he could get away with pissing them off. But he wasn’t willing to risk a feud right before such an important occasion.

Staring for a good minute he slowly nodded his head “Just doing my rounds, I’ll be going now. G’night, Boyoyon.” Slamming the door closed as he quickly left.

Grumbling quietly to himself Bobbin continued on with two Chess Soldiers.

 

 ~~

“Good morning~ It’s morning~ It’s time to rise and shine~ Wake up, Miss~ Wake up, Miss~”

Grumbling from under the thick blanket, it took Rosalina a moment to remember where she was, pulling the blanket away from her head she began rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

Her eyes soon focused when they fell upon a familiar lamp and chair, she’d asked Katakuri if she could keep the pair of Homies that’d kept her company, and he’d shrugged and said he’d sort it when he had time. Which made her quite grateful since he had so much else to be doing.

Sitting up in the bed Rosalina stretched and let out a content sigh. She felt more rested than she had in days, a peaceful sleep had been much needed and her night of rest was much appreciated.

“Mmh, good morning~.” She sang in response before she decided to look at the clock, unsure of how long she’d slept.

Eyes widening with surprise she threw back her blanket and scrambled out of bed “Oh fuck! Oh fuck, how did I sleep so long?” She cried, running to her luggage she flung one open and frantically began throwing clothes out of it.

10.25

Knowing she was supposed to meet Cracker in only thirty-five minutes Rosalina had to hurry.

Grabbing two towels and a change of clothes she darted to the bathroom, stopping only to speak to the Lamp and Chair “Guys, I need you to find which chest has weapons in it and where my jackets are. I’ve a date in less than an hour!”

Slamming the door closed she was quick to discard her clothes and jump into the shower.

Swearing profusely, Rosalina washed her hair and herself as quickly as she could manage, her foul language could be heard beyond the bathroom door.  Lamp and Chair were happy to be hearing new words while they knocked open her luggage in search of weapons.

It’d taken ten minutes for her shower and almost a full ten to get her hair partially dry.  Without the time or knowledge of where her hairdryer was, she’d have to make do with damp hair.

 Once dressed she exited the bathroom and immediately looked to the clock.

10.45

‘Fifteen minutes, okay, I got this.’ She thought to herself.

Her attention was then brought to the Lamp and Chair, happily singing that they’d found the chest she was looking for.

Loaded with all the weaponry she had some skill with, it had been a snap decision by Shanks to have it sent along, an added bit of protection in case things went sour. Rosalina was thankful for it now, seeing as how Cracker had told her to bring some along.

She’d considered what he had planned, it was early and she’d been encouraged to bring weapons. Possibly sparing? Or were they going somewhere dangerous?

Her father had been incredibly strict about learning to fight and defend herself.

Strategy and tact from Beckman, gunnery and sniping from Yassop, swordsmanship from her father. Of course, she’d learned a few other things from the rest of the crew; her parents had thought it imperative that she have every tool necessary to grow into a strong adult.

With little time to spare, the choice was practically made for her.

Grabbing her two favourites from the chest she quickly secured them on her belt “Thanks, guys. If Beckman comes by looking for me, tell him I’m with Cracker and he should do his job while I’m gone.” Hoping the Lamp and Chair could pass along the message if needed.

She didn’t like the idea of running off without letting Beckman know her plans, he was her chaperone and as much as she loved him, she knew he didn’t like Cracker, not yet at least.

It’d been obvious that chaperoning her wasn’t Beckmans only duty, he needed to gather some information on the Charlotte family. Anything her father could use to try break off this arrangement was to be prioritised right after her safety and well being. Despite her protests to keep the peace it had been no use, he was her father and Captain, arguing it was no use.

“We will, we will. Have fun, bye bye.” Both the Chair and the Lamp called as she made her way out of the room.

Standing in the hallway she looked up and down, trying to remember her way to the stairs proved more difficult than expected.

But, she was sure they’d come from the right, all she had to do then was find a staircase that led down, sure enough if she got that right finding Cracker would be no trouble at all.

 


End file.
